LIME WOOD PIPES?

Any pipe smoker usually associates this companion of moments of relaxation with briar.
It is true that heather briar is the most used material to make smoking pipes; it is so both for its aesthetic characteristics and for its compactness and for the flavors released but there is no doubt that other woods can also allow the construction of pipes with absolutely important results.

Personally, I consider olive, cherry and lime trees to be worthy substitutes for briar.
You can also use walnut, mahogany and ash but, solely for the taste on the palate released at the time of smoking, I prefer the first three (obviously it is only a matter of taste; another could easily prefer walnut).

In this post we focus on lime wood in particular.
It is a wood with important characteristics also known by the name: “lignum sacrum”. This is because, especially in medieval times, it was used for the creation of sacred sculptures rather than altarpieces …
Why such a noble use of lime tree? It is easy to say: he lets himself be worked very well and does not “rebel” in the face of any kind of solicitation.
Its pinkish white color with the aging time takes on a blond aspect with greenish streaks; it is a soft and porous wood with a density in the dried state of 320-590 Kg / mᶟ (that of briar is 800-950 Kg / mᶟ). A lime wood pipe will therefore be much lighter than the briar “twin sister”; this does not detract from its smokability and in addition makes it more comfortable to hold between the teeth and consequently easily usable even in situations where your hands are busy.
With briar some pipes in order not to weigh too much between the teeth must necessarily be bent; with linden you can safely enjoy straight pipes.
Due to its natural characteristics, linden, in addition to having a homogeneous structure and practically free of impurities, is a wood with a fair level of internal humidity; therefore a rather long seasoning period will be necessary at the end of which the wooden structure will be extremely compact and homogeneous, suitable for undergoing any type of processing.

For this reason we have decided to give the deserved space to the production of lime wood pipes.