I've recently read in a number of posts the adage that a thick-walled pipe "smokes cooler." Can someone explain the rationale here? I'll explain my thinking below, and welcome any corrections.
Thick walls might provide more of a heat sink, but they would insulate the chamber and retain more heat than thin walls, no? One might expect a thinner-walled pipe to lose more heat to radiation and convection.
If the though is that the more massive pipe is cooler to the hand, that shows that less heat is being lost from the chamber. As a beginner, I've never been close to experiencing an uncomfortably hot pipe in the hand, even with my little Savinelli Petite. I have experienced tongue bite in various pipes, which so far I can't attribute to the thinness of pipe walls.
I would think that smoke would become cooler within the pipe by passing alongside a heat sink, if it is thin enough to allow the heat to dissipate, as with pipes that have longer briar stummels (Canadians, Liverpools, and similar) or Churchwarden pipes. In this scenario the critical factor would be the length of a radiant channel, not the mass.
I'm just speculating here, not speakingfrom experience.
I'd be interested to hear not only your anecdotal experience, but any science-based experimentation that's been done on this subject.
Thick walls might provide more of a heat sink, but they would insulate the chamber and retain more heat than thin walls, no? One might expect a thinner-walled pipe to lose more heat to radiation and convection.
If the though is that the more massive pipe is cooler to the hand, that shows that less heat is being lost from the chamber. As a beginner, I've never been close to experiencing an uncomfortably hot pipe in the hand, even with my little Savinelli Petite. I have experienced tongue bite in various pipes, which so far I can't attribute to the thinness of pipe walls.
I would think that smoke would become cooler within the pipe by passing alongside a heat sink, if it is thin enough to allow the heat to dissipate, as with pipes that have longer briar stummels (Canadians, Liverpools, and similar) or Churchwarden pipes. In this scenario the critical factor would be the length of a radiant channel, not the mass.
I'm just speculating here, not speakingfrom experience.
I'd be interested to hear not only your anecdotal experience, but any science-based experimentation that's been done on this subject.