My neighborhood has been invaded by the “ladybug look-alikes”… 
I forget what they’re actually called..some just call 'em “b!tc# bugs”. 
..anyways, I just finished a narrow bore D chanter in treated domestic (locally grown)apple. I’ve made a major discovery, albeit an unpleasant one. The b!t(#-bugs LOVE the sweet smell of apple wood! I was playing outside in the shop, when I heard a crunch and felt a tickle…and then the smell hit… 
(These bugs STINK when squished. ) I looked down to find the chanter swarming with these bugs…ugh…as if the box-elder infestation weren’t enough!!
Davey,
What was the wood treated with ??
Have you ever tried cherry? I’ve heard there are a few chanters out there made from cherry.
Cherry is good for “prototypes”, but generally speaking it’s too soft.
The apple was vacuum treated with a linseed/shellac mixture that fills the pores, adds denisty to the wood and gives a smoother finish to the internal bore. The same things needs to be done with plum, pear and other fruitwoods.
Now that’s a case of having the piping bug!
While on the topic of Apple…I have a couple of Apple trees I plan on falling soon and was going to store the wood away in case they should want to turn into pipes one day.
I have gathered I need to cut the logs in to half rounds, seal the ends with latex paint and store them up in the rafters. How long should I make the logs (say they were to be turned into a full set in b flat)? I’ve never done this before, is there anything else I should know?
THanks!!!
S
Davey, that’s interesting about the ‘pressure treated’ applewood. How long was the wood seasoned before receiving this treatment?
I’d heard about Rod Cameron applying superglue/linseed oil to the bore of boxwood flutes, to guarantee their stability while they go through their final shrinkage, while in the player’s hands. Does he pressure treat them as well?
What’s the box elder for, Davey? Mountings? I seem to recall that it even has some bugs named for it, they’re so fond of chewing on the stuff. Box elder, by the way, is neither boxwood nor elderberry; it’s a species of maple, Acer negundo, with compound leaves.
I’m suprised people use Super Glue on long term projects. I’ve had much experience with it in hobby related projects… and it seems to crack after a few months when exposed to a varied range of temperatures.
Find some nice clean, straight branches about 3" around more or less. cut them extra long and let them season a couple of years. You can find some really really dense stuff in the center of these.
Same goes for maple (In cold climates anyway) and apricot, pear. Cherry is a bit hit-or-miss and some of it is really way too soft.
Royce
Really, box elder? I’d never 'a thunk it…growing up as I did near agricultural areas, 'twas basically viewed as more a pernicious weed, hardly fit for burning, even. Even the Dakota name for it was “good-for-nothing tree”. Leave it to the pipers… 
Kevin’s right; it’s a form of maple with compound leaves.
Does anyone have an opinion of black walnut or locust wood?
Neil
Someone on here told me that locust wood tends to split, thus its use in making fence rails. I’d hate to take all that time turning a chanter only to end up having a pile of rails for a model train.
Black walnut is pretty nasty as it can be poisonous. Don’t use black walnut chips in the mulch pile, or you’ll kill all the plants.
Has anyone used bloodwood? I like the way it turns.
Marc
Black Walnut is very popular for gun stocks. I even read somewhere about “walnut wrestlers” lifting trees out with helicopters in the night.
I’ve a Ralph Sweet walnut whistle. Nice smokey taste to it. 
I’ve used black walnut for mainstocks and had great success with it. Never used locust. The box elder I was referring to above was the box elder BUGS…terribly annoying little creatures… I believe box elder is a very light, soft wood that wouldn’t be dense enough for much of anything…
There are other good domesticly grown hardwoods to keep an eye out for Plum, almond. olive, peach, lauburnam (golden rain tree, quite toxic), boxwood, persimmon, mountain mahogany and jujube all come to mind.
Latex paint is not great for sealing wood ends. Wax coating is usually used and polyurathane will seal it better. Latex paint breaths.
Ted
I’ve always found the grains of olive and persimmon to be beautiful. I wonder why they’re not used more. Sheer tradition, perhaps?
Olive is extensively used by Italian, French and Spanish pipe makers.
Ted
Thanks, Ted. I’ll bet I’d like the look of an olivewood set…would the stock be made of olive, too? And I wonder what sort of metal and fittings tend to be favored, although I imagine that brass would look pretty sharp with olivewood.
Re Ted’s post…and bartenders 
Brass would look great with olive. There are a number of species of olive. I have a zampogna chanter in a dark olive. There is a nice photo of an olivewood Spanish set of pipes at: sansluthier.net . Click on cornemuse.
Olive is very slow drying, but is big enough for a mainstock.
Ted