Pear Wood Church Warden

[steelarts]

I’m just sitting in the garden enjoying the sunshine and a pipe. Today it’s my church warden because it’s quite small and I don’t have a lot of time. Unfortunately I damaged the rim some years ago using a jet flame lighter, grrr. It’s a really lovely cool smoke but one thing has always worried me slightly; it does get very hot. So much so that I often hold it by the stem. It’s developing a nice carbon cake so nothing untoward seems to be happening. Is this hotness something I should worry about? I bought the pipe on Amazon many years ago and I think it was made in Latvia or Ukraine and it’s supposedly made of pear wood. I’ve read that certain woods aren’t good for pipes, so is pear okay? Sorry if I’ve got this in the wrong section.

 

[Old Smokey]

Pearwood is decent for pipes. My churchwarden is made of cherry and gets hot no matter my cadence.

 

[steelarts]

Great, thanks for that reassurance.

 

[WVOldFart]

Pear wood will get hotter a little quicker than briar, but it mostly depends on how you smoke the pipe. Most pipe issues are due to the person managing the pipe. Fill your pipe and sip on it to get the most flavor. If you puff on it, making billows of smoke, you will get a hot pipe. Enjoy your smoke!

 

[steelarts]

Pear wood will get hotter a little quicker than briar, but it mostly depends on how you smoke the pipe. Most pipe issues are due to the person managing the pipe. Fill your pipe and sip on it to get the most flavor. If you puff on it, making billows of smoke, you will get a hot pipe. Enjoy your smoke!

I’ve just started using the breath method which has slowed everything down. What a difference, such a smooth smoke today.

 

[FLDRD]

My first pipes were pear wood pipes off of Etsy, from Eastern Europe (somewhere). In my experience, looking back I think they might smoke slightly hotter, but not a lot of difference. I had a 2 section churchwarden like yours and the middle section didn't hold up. May have been my fault. At least the top, short, bent part of the bit still fits; but I've moved on to briar.

 

[OzPiper]

I’m just sitting in the garden enjoying the sunshine and a pipe. Today it’s my church warden.
it’s supposedly made of pear wood. I’ve read that certain woods aren’t good for pipes, so is pear okay?

I’ve just started using the breath method which has slowed everything down. What a difference, such a smooth smoke today.

Fruit wood such as pear, apple and cherry are fine for pipes.
They are not as fire-resistant as briar, and will get hot more easily..
I have a cherry wood (ie made from cherry wood, not the shape) with very thick walls. So it DOES NOT get hot much.
Building a thin layer of hard cake often helps.

Slowing your cadence will give you a cooler smoke.
But even briar pipes can get hot.
I have a few briars that regularly smoke hot, no matter what.
It may have to do with the grain, the density of the wood or thin walls.

Certain materials eg morta reputedly smoke hotter than briar.
The few I have have thickish walls, and smoke quite cool.
Unless I puff hard/fast.