North American wood for chanters.

anima · Post by **anima** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 9:54 am

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

upiper71 · Post by **upiper71** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 10:14 am

PJ wrote:Nick Whitmer makes main stocks from cherry.

PJ, Is that what you have?, and if it is you should post some pics..

upiper71

PJ · Post by PJ » Tue Nov 29, 2005 10:22 am

Here's a photo of Whitmer drones with the cherrywood stock.

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 11:42 am

anima wrote: 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

.... 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.

John Mulhern · Post by **John Mulhern** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 2:20 pm

Any opinion on the fruitwoods lemon or apricot?

I snagged some from a neighbors curbside pruning woodpile yesterday morning.

billh · Post by **billh** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 2:26 pm

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

texasbagpiper · Post by **texasbagpiper** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 2:39 pm

Just a small change in subject.... What local woods in Ireland are good for pipemaking????

John Mulhern · Post by **John Mulhern** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 2:45 pm

Whoo hoo!

I'll cut it up this weekend, rough it into cylinders, and let it start seasoning. Thanks, Bill!

billh · Post by **billh** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 3:23 pm

John Mulhern wrote: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

John Mulhern · Post by **John Mulhern** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 4:20 pm

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.

billh · Post by **billh** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 4:33 pm

John Mulhern wrote: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.

OK, taking the bark off is a good idea - it sounded like you were going to rough-turn it into cylinders on a lathe, which I wouldn't do yet.

I would advise splitting or cutting the logs in half lengthwise, otherwise it's likely to crack in the 'pith' area. Also do put paraffin wax on the ends, since otherwise they'll dry faster than the center, which also leads to cracking.

Good luck with it! At 2" - 3" diameter they might be too small for chanters, but the heartwood should be lovely anyway.

regards

Bill

J-dub · Post by **J-dub** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 4:57 pm

I caught wind of this topic a little late, but several folks were asking about Mountain Mahogany. I thought I would pipe in, so to speak. I just made a wooden wind cap for my chanter out of some local Mountain Mahogany a couple of weeks ago. I’d include some pics but my camera is kaput right now. I’ll try and post some later. I should have a chanter made soon, if I don’t screw up that is!

Mountain Mahogany is indeed a very dense wood. I estimate that it is denser than some boxwood that I have on hand. I have a log of it that is maybe 12-14 inchs across by 16 inches long and it weighs ~100 lbs, dry weight! The wood is very fine grained and turns very well. It will take some very fine details. It is hard to dry – checks like crazy. The wood I have varies in color from very light in the sap wood (like box wood) to very, very dark brown, almost black, in the heart wood. It’s looks way cool. I need to find where I can harvest some and in an environmentally conscientious fashion. It is nice to have a potential source for local wood suitable for pipe building.

Mountain mahogany is wide spread throughout the Great Basin, I have seen it in the eastern Sierras as well. It is very abundant locally here in the Wasatch mountains. It is typically the size of a shrubbery - yes a shrubbery, and not large enough for chanters, well maybe OK for small pipes!. But it can grow into tree size. I have seen some 20 ft high with a bole 24 inches in diameter. I just passed by a couple large trees on a ski tour last weekend and was tempted to saw one down with the edge of my snowboard but cooler heads (and cold arses) prevailed and we left them unmolested.

For those interested, some vitals are…

Family: Roseaceae

Genus: Cercocarpus

Species: ledifoliusas well as several others(montanus, betuloides).

Grows between 6 and 9 thousand feet on dry sunny slopes. Check out
http://www.canyondave.com/MahoganyPg.html for some info and pics.

Cheers!
~John.

Jim McGuire · Post by **Jim McGuire** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 5:38 pm

This outfit has lots of info and wood!
http://www.righteouswoods.net/imported_hardwoods.html

djm · Post by **djm** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 8:21 pm

J-Dub wrote:It is typically the size of a shrubbery - yes a shrubbery

Ni!

billh · Post by **billh** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 9:56 am

texasbagpiper wrote:Just a small change in subject.... What local woods in Ireland are good for pipemaking????

Laburnum was used in the past, it's a lovely wood. Not particularly easy to get though.

Hawthorn/whitethorn has possibilities as well. And of course there's native boxwood, though again you have to be in the right place at the right time, to get any.

Bill