What Are The Physics Of "Thick Wall = Cool Smoke"?

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Road To Pines

Might Stick Around
Sep 2, 2020
89
162
Ontario, Canada
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.
 

bullet08

Lifer
Nov 26, 2018
8,932
37,913
RTP, NC. USA
Cooler smoke and thickness of the bowl are not really related. I think what's being talked about is how the bowl feels in hand when smoking fast. Thick wall do hold the heat, but you won't feel the massive ember sitting right behind the wall.

The cool smoke has more to do with your technique, blend, and how the blend is cut.
 

J.GANDY

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 12, 2020
623
4,489
Savannah,Georgia
Cooler smoke and thickness of the bowl are not really related. I think what's being talked about is how the bowl feels in hand when smoking fast. Thick wall do hold the heat, but you won't feel the massive ember sitting right behind the wall.

The cool smoke has more to do with your technique, blend, and how the blend is cut.
I agree with this. The thickness of the bowl will "feel" cooler but not necessarily smoke cooler.

There is also the theory of what the bowl is coated in effecting the temperature of the wood itself as well as the smoke. For example a heavily shellacked bowl would not disperse heat trapping it inside, as opposed to a waxed bowl. Which could make the wood feel hot no matter the thickness.

So Cosmic may be correct also, it's magic!
 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,340
Cooler smoke and thickness of the bowl are not really related. I think what's being talked about is how the bowl feels in hand when smoking fast. Thick wall do hold the heat, but you won't feel the massive ember sitting right behind the wall.

The cool smoke has more to do with your technique, blend, and how the blend is cut.
This

It means the outer bowl doesn't heat up. Cool smoke is the result of the smoker, not the pipe.
 
Cool smoke is the result of the smoker, not the pipe.
Maybe... hmmmm... I was thinking cooler on the smoke as well. Like I said, it doesn't make sense, but it does seem like they smoke cooler. I do tend to puff a little harder because I can get away with it more on my thicker bowls. Maybe it can't be explained by science. But dammit, it's there. ha ha.
If it were just coolness to the touch on the bowl, the question would just be a no brainer. Duh, the bowl is thicker and more insulated. But, I do notice that I don't have to be as gentle with my draw or cadence on my big fat walled pipes. Maybe it's magic? Maybe, I'm crazy? Maybe both? Maybe my pipes just love me. puffy
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,621
44,832
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Cooler smoke and thickness of the bowl are not really related. I think what's being talked about is how the bowl feels in hand when smoking fast. Thick wall do hold the heat, but you won't feel the massive ember sitting right behind the wall.

The cool smoke has more to do with your technique, blend, and how the blend is cut.
^ This.
One of the reasons I tuned my technique with thin walled pipes is that I figured if I could learn how to smoke coolly I wouldn't be lulled into a false sense of security with thick walled pipes. I'd like not to damage the chambers.
 
It's really hard to take someone serious who is telling you that the smoke is not cooler, when you have the pipe in your mouth and the smoke feels cooler. Why? I don't think anyone can answer that. But, they can't tell me that I don't 'feel" what I am feeling. Period.

Maybe as the thinner bowls heat up, it makes the smoke hotter? Magic? Some sorta weird inner bowl dynamic that armchair physicist can't fathom? I put myself in the armchair category, BTW.

Maybe your fat pipes aren't as good as my fat pipes? puffy
 

rajangan

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 14, 2018
974
2,809
Edmonton, AB
I think there are three (main) things that cause tongue bite: low pH, steam, and lastly, actual temperature.

I think big pipes smoke cooler because they extract and evaporate more moisture from the smoke. This is why grain matters, this is why shellac or wax has an effect, and it's also why we clean and rest our pipes.

Edit: it's also why people dry out their Virginias.
 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,340
I think there are three (main) things that cause tongue bite: low pH, steam, and lastly, actual temperature.

I think big pipes smoke cooler because they extract and evaporate more moisture from the smoke. This is why grain matters, this is why shellac or wax has an effect, and it's also why we clean and rest our pipes.

Edit: it's also why people dry out their Virginias.
Briar's density gives it little to no absorption quality as proven by a few soaking experiment threads done on this forum. Rest has mostly been debunked as a marketing tool and I myself smoke one pipe several times per day for weeks at a time but I clean it after each smoke and each smoke is as cool and dry as the first.

People mainly dry their Virginias because moisture dilutes the flavor.
 

rajangan

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 14, 2018
974
2,809
Edmonton, AB
Briar's density gives it little to no absorption quality as proven by a few soaking experiment threads done on this forum. Rest has mostly been debunked as a marketing tool and I myself smoke one pipe several times per day for weeks at a time but I clean it after each smoke and each smoke is as cool and dry as the first.

People mainly dry their Virginias because moisture dilutes the flavor.
Steam is not the same as water, so water penetration testing is a non sequitur. Otherwise we could bend wood by soaking it in water for half an hour instead of steaming it.

I don't purposefully dry out my Virginias. I'm just referencing what other people have said. I suppose they could be mistaken though.
 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,340
Steam is not the same as water, so water penetration testing is a non sequitur. Otherwise we could bend wood by soaking it in water for half an hour instead of steaming it.

I don't purposefully dry out my Virginias. I'm just referencing what other people have said. I suppose they could be mistaken though.
Those experiments were mainly for those cleaning their pipes with water. After wiping out the chamber and using pipe cleaners the pipe was perfectly usable afterwards.
 

rajangan

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 14, 2018
974
2,809
Edmonton, AB
Those experiments were mainly for those cleaning their pipes with water. After wiping out the chamber and using pipe cleaners the pipe was perfectly usable afterwards.
One time, so totally anecdotal, I was camping, and smoked a small Peterson rhodesian that was out in the rain, and I could see little wet spots forming and evaporating on the surface as I smoked. I don't recall it smoking particularly hot.
 
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