Safest wood for pipe

what would be the healthiest (least harmful) type of wood to use to make a wooden pipe out of? i'm sure i've heard that each type is different in the type and amount of chemicals released in high heat. i know not to use pressure treated wood, but what types besides that would be more harmful then others?

 

I'm not sure on the wood but a friend friend of mine carved a pipe out of wood and all he had to do was soak it in vegetable oil to keep the wood from burning. I dont think you'll have to worry about what type, just soak it and get a good build up of resin in the bowl and you should be fine.

 

well man, I have been in the wood buisness for 15 years. I know alot about wood. Walnut is Toxic to injest so I wouldnt use that or aney kind of exotic most are toxic. I think if I were going to make a pipe I wood use a frut wood such as apple or pear. Theas woods have a sweetness to them as well they are used for cooking, so the are pritty safe. if you cant find that the use chery or maple. maple is a good wood to carve even though it is hard. Be carfull dont cut yourself

 

For several hundreds years, briar has been the wood of choice for smoking pipes.
But any kind of dense, close-grained wood will work.
Oak, manzanita, madrone, & cherry will work.
To me, the BEST material to make pipes from is glass and ceramic.

 

I agree with ccn. Wood can be toxic. "Food wood", like oak or cherry is safest for food bowls and pipes.
On the other hand, I've once saw a nice pipe made from zebra wood (definatly toxic, not for use in a cutting board). But, as Blind Melon mentioned, after many uses the bowl becomes charred and the inside of the stem gets impregnated with resin. This isolates the wood from the smoke. The only route of injection is the mouthpiece.

I would recommend a piece of 4/4 (or 5/4 if you can find it) cherry. Its easy to find and works very nicely if your tools are SHARP. If you don't sharpen your own tools, I'd go oak.

The main factor is that cherry and oak are usually avaliable in the big box hardware stores. If you have a specialty hardwood store avalible, the clerk would be able to give you good advice.

I almost forgot, if you know a woodworker or a carpenter, they might have some pieces of scrap that would be good for a pipe. Free wood is always nice.

 

thanks everyone for the advice, but mike, one thing i'm worried about if i go that route is pressure treated wood, or otherwise treated wood. do they always label that sort of thing?

 

They always lable treated wood. Treatment affects the way a wood takes stains and other finishing products so the consumer needs to know what treatments have been applied.
Also, the sawdust from treated woods must be avoided and so it is always labeled. Kiln drying does not involve any added chemicals.

 

I also agree with the oak and cherry suggestions. i have never heard of the walnut thing, but cant advise against it. I find poplar to be fairly easy to work