My goal here is to compile a list of materials that are safe to use in a smoking pipe. If this post catches on, Ill update the original post with any useful information added by your responses. NOTE: I am not a scientist, everything below is purely of my own assumtions, or from something I have read (likely from an unreliable online source), or just common sense. Okay, I've got the urge to make some homemade smoking peices. Ive got plenty of pipes, bongs, steamrollers etc. but I want to make some QUALITY homemade pieces (no plastic bottles, foil, cans, etc...). I'm not sure what kind of materials are safe to inhale under direct heat. Ive tried searching for the information myself but found very little information. So I am trying to build a list of what is and is not safe to use as a bowl or slide. Does anyone have any storebought peices that use anything unique and apparently safe? Keep in mind that a lot of materials you buy in the store could have some kind of coating, polish, glaze... etc. that can be harmful. Make sure you know what you are buying. -Glass we all know Glass is safe. -Ceramic I've seen ceramic pipes used before. Sounds safe to me! -Clay Another common material for pipes. Here is a how-to: How to Make Clay Tobacco Pipes | eHow.com -Metal? Which types of metals are safe? Steel? Stainless Steel? Brass? Nickle? It was inevitable to get through this without mentioning Aluminum and the Alzheimer scare. I am no scientist and I'll bet at least 99.9% of you all are not either. I do know that the rumor comes from the fact that alzheimer patients are know to have above-normal levels of aluminum in their bodies. IMO, this does not prove or disprove that smoking aluminum is going to give you alzhiemer's. Regardless, I am going to avoid aluminum foil as it is not what I am looking for. I am building something more permanent, not a cheap waterbottle/foil bong. And besides... better safe than sorry. -Corncob people have been smoking out of corncob for hundreds of years. Here is a How-to: How to Make a Corncob Pipe | eHow.com -Stone I am not sure which types of stone are best to use. I know marble is common.
