Sorry for all the questions, but I just can't seem to find strait answers, just lots of contradictions.
I do the majority of my smoking out-of-doors (or, if the weather is just too inclement for the porch, in an unheated garage). Now, I've read in some places that I should let my pipe sit outdoors (or in the garage), cooling the briar to the ambient air temp. prior to lighting, to avoid cracking. The same has been suggested following the bowl - let it cool to ambient (outdoor/garage) temp. before cleaning, rather than allowing it to cool to room temp. (given that I am in south-western Canada, this is around a 16c/60f variation at this time of year).
To me, this seems somewhat counter-intuitive; from my understanding, we are essentially creating a small furnace in our bowl - allowing my pipe to cool to, say, 4c before lighting it would actually cause higher tempurature variations between the inside of the bowl/cake and the exterior of the pipe, which in my mind would cause cracking.
Once again, following the pipe, allowing it to cool beyond room temp. seems somewhat counter-intuative, as I would just be taking the pipe indoors to clean it once it has fully cooled anyway, and, given concern over the lasting fit of mortise and tenon, would allow the pipe to "warm-up" to room tempurature before disassembly and cleaning.
Any thoughts on this subject?
