What stains are safe for pipe making?

[Bloodhound]

I was wondering if there is a certain type of stain that should be used for pipe making/restoration. Will a Minwax stain leech thru the briar and cause problems with the heating of the pipe or even be a danger to the smoker? Is there a food safe stain that needs to be used?

[coco]

Many pipemakers tend to prefer leather stains (Fiebings, etc.).

[FredS]

As coco wrote, your best bet is Fiebings alcohol based leather stain. I have a bunch of those stains as well as many powders that can be mixed in alcohol to create custom colors. I'll bring it down to Ed's Tuesday evening along with a bunch of briar scraps so you can take it home and experiment.

[SlowToke]

As already mentioned, most pipemakers use Fiebings leather dye. I've never used it. I use Moser's powdered dyes. Most common is alcohol based aniline dyes. You can get powders in alcohol, water, and oil based and in way more colors which is why that's what I've always used. If you need consistency though, Fiebings is the way to go.

[Bloodhound]

The pipe I had in mind, is a Hardcastle that has about 20 fills, so I am thinking strip it down and rusticate it, and then stain it dark cherry wood or...but I need to clean it up and smoke it some to detirmine that it is worth the effort. FredS brought me a bunch of stains at our last meet up to smoke. Once I get clear of the graduation season of May, I'll get it cleaned up and see how it smokes.

[coco]

Or the blood of your enemies