Stainless steel wool in a pipe bowl

I placed food grade stainless steel wool into my briar wood pipe bowl and packed it down tight with my finger. I dab a bit of extract onto the SS wool and then use a Bic to fire it up like a bud. The SS immediately turns orange in the middle and wicks the heat out to the sides of the bowl.

The vapor it produces is somewhat purged of volitiles because of the flame (thc boils and does not combust) and the vaporization is extremely efficient. Very dense vapor. The taste is delightful, especially after the first hit or so when excess terpenes if present will combust with glowing hot SS stainless steel to help catalyze the process. It is very smooth.

Yeah I did that for a while too, stuck a ball of steel wool in the hole of the bowl. Worked well, didn't get plugged as fast as a screen. Actually I should do that again. That damn screen keeps getting plugged up.

Always make sure it's stainless steel and a coarse texture, that fine stuff will destroy your lungs

Singlemalt said:

Always make sure it's stainless steel and a coarse texture, that fine stuff will destroy your lungs

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I have seen no references prior to you post that suggests stainless steel when used in the manner prescribed would damage the lungs. This would suggest that stainless steel could somehow produce a vapor at temperatures orders of magnitude lower than the melting point of stainless steel.

If you have a reference to support such a radical medical claim it would be best to post a link rather than engage in fear mongering my friend. There is FAR FAR FAR too much fear mongering over absolutely absurd topics like your post here on 420 forums and usually by young men who have yet to leave the comforts of mom and dads house in life. I believe you may have meant well but what you say cannot possibly be accurate. If my own information is in error and the alloy used across a wide range of human activities can indeed destroy lung tissue then please post a link, because without evidence it has no meaning outside of a playground. Stainless steel that emits any gas or substance when heated by a Bic lighter does not exist.

You can also use copper wire from inside electrical cable, it has to be washed and burned clean over an open flame first though. And it looks like you are a crack head.

This kind of wool is very useful. You can put weed in a normal pipe or bong and just put this wool on the top, when you smoke it now, it vapes before it combusts. Better than pipescreens. The cheapest way of making kind of vapgenie.

I vape with stainless steel screens or wool for years now, never had any problems with it. Also i never heard that heated stainless steel can release toxic vapor or substances. Even when it should combust or vape, what i don´t believe, i think it wouldn´t be a real problem. Pipescreens of stainless steel are made for smoking and heating, also much vapes got pipescreens in it.

eugeneoregon said:

I have seen no references prior to you post that suggests stainless steel when used in the manner prescribed would damage the lungs. This would suggest that stainless steel could somehow produce a vapor at temperatures orders of magnitude lower than the melting point of stainless steel.

If you have a reference to support such a radical medical claim it would be best to post a link rather than engage in fear mongering my friend. There is FAR FAR FAR too much fear mongering over absolutely absurd topics like your post here on 420 forums and usually by young men who have yet to leave the comforts of mom and dads house in life. I believe you may have meant well but what you say cannot possibly be accurate. If my own information is in error and the alloy used across a wide range of human activities can indeed destroy lung tissue then please post a link, because without evidence it has no meaning outside of a playground. Stainless steel that emits any gas or substance when heated by a Bic lighter does not exist.

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Debatable!!

A Bic lighter burns around 3500 deg F. Now the air flow made by hitting a bong or pipe will increase that a bit.
Being that the heat is not concentrated like a welder. The metals do not "melt". But, the grade of stainless is important as it will off gas chromium, nickle and other metal gas's. Keep in mind that chromium is a strong cause of organ cancers!

Any type of steel wool that's not stainless and high grade stainless at that......Should never be used as a "screen" for a pipe.
I would avoid any and all metal "wools" of any type!

Copper should be avoided as it off gas's bad! nasty shit and that's why you don't see copper pipes anywhere!

Dr. Who said:

Debatable!!

A Bic lighter burns around 3500 deg F. Now the air flow made by hitting a bong or pipe will increase that a bit.

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Maybe, but stainless steel pipescreens are made for smoking with lighters, and in use for decades, without any studies thatsay that this stuff is dangerous or will hurt you.

I think the real danger is smoking.

I think it is one of the safest substances for smoking or vaping.

Aren't a good portion of screens made of stainless steel anyway?

I think there'd be some cases of poisoning by now if it were toxic to vape with.

Nugachino said:

Aren't a good portion of screens made of stainless steel anyway?

I think there'd be some cases of poisoning by now if it were toxic to vape with.

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That´s what i always thought and still think.

crack heads been using chore boys forever so they must be healthy to burn through. I dont see any warnings on the package about it
and they come in high quality stainless steel too trust china

I've put new steel wool into my Tamisium Extraction unit and extracted oil from the steel wool just saying.
Like pipe screens steel wool should be burned/clean at least before use.

Actually I've read that it's bad to heat iron to where it's like red hot, because apparently some gets into your lungs and can cause problems. But who is going to heat it up red hot? Probably some people would, which is why I don't actually recommend that everyone use it, only those who smoke in a prudent manner. Actually same with titanium. You shouldn't get it real hot, or any metal really for that matter. Like say you were to do the crazy thing of using a blowtorch on a titanium nail. What happens is you produce an oxide layer, and titanium oxide is a suspected carcinogen. Now suppose you breathe in some of those oxide particles. Maybe nothing, maybe something. Now I don't know if a torch would heat it enough to do that, but in theory at least.

eugeneoregon said:

I have seen no references prior to you post that suggests stainless steel when used in the manner prescribed would damage the lungs. This would suggest that stainless steel could somehow produce a vapor at temperatures orders of magnitude lower than the melting point of stainless steel.

If you have a reference to support such a radical medical claim it would be best to post a link rather than engage in fear mongering my friend. There is FAR FAR FAR too much fear mongering over absolutely absurd topics like your post here on 420 forums and usually by young men who have yet to leave the comforts of mom and dads house in life. I believe you may have meant well but what you say cannot possibly be accurate. If my own information is in error and the alloy used across a wide range of human activities can indeed destroy lung tissue then please post a link, because without evidence it has no meaning outside of a playground. Stainless steel that emits any gas or substance when heated by a Bic lighter does not exist.

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Chill dude, I didn't say the stainless was bad, I said the finer non stainless is (grades 0-000) is dangerous. Other people read these things and school is out; kids are are reading.. Non stainless can be set afire with a match and a bit of blown air.

Singlemalt said:

Chill dude, I didn't say the stainless was bad, I said the finer non stainless is (grades 0-000) is dangerous. Other people read these things and school is out; kids are are reading.. Non stainless can be set afire with a match and a bit of blown air.

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Please post a link regarding stainless steel toxicity.

When I worked in a machine tool manufacturing facility as a research engineer and control systems programmer my design drawings and efforts required the use of the whole range of machinable metals including stainless steel of any grade. Before your post I had not been made aware of any unusual dangers posed to humans in the course of grinding, cutting by blowtorch, machining by CNC mills, cutting by bandsaw, or any other route of possible exposure. I am comparing of course SS to other metals processed in similar fashion in a place that routinely heats the metal to molten and in the case of blowtorch cutting vaporizes the metal. All processes thusly require personal protection well beyond what a pipe smoker is normally ever dressed up in. You could spend one billion years trying to cut an ⅛ inch thick piece of SS wih a Bic lighter and all that would happen would be a big mountain of Bic lighters would emerge... lolz

No offense meant at all my friend. If I sound preachy it is just me. I tend to drive my points like using a sledge hammer to drive a tack plus I vape premium oil that I refine from the 70% tested dispensary extracts here in Oregon. My style of written debate is adversarial even if I post with a grin and a kind heart. I guess its the price for becoming a Marine. In the Marines inaccurate information can quickly lead to the deaths of a WHOLE lot of folks, good and bad. So it became my tradition while serving, as with most enlisted Marines, to call "bullshit" so as to quickly resolve to the truth of the matter. It is often in challenge form because it often pertains to leadership but is not personal. Just the way I am.

I didn't say toxic, I didn't use the word toxic, I didn't say anything negative about stainless steel. I stated: make sure it is stainless and its of coarse grade. You should know that.

I'm guessing inhaling the flint from many lighter strikes isnt healthy but who knows. Neither is breathing these day so

I think it's iron oxide vapor, or microparticles, rather than iron itself. Actually I think it said particles build up in the lungs and cause a disease. It's not like a single exposure. So ss would be safe there. The only toxicity I know of is when cooking acidic food with it, nickel can leach out. Could nickel be released from burning? Probably, at some temperature.

BobCajun said:

I think it's iron oxide vapor, or microparticles, rather than iron itself. Actually I think it said particles build up in the lungs and cause a disease. It's not like a single exposure. So ss would be safe there. The only toxicity I know of is when cooking acidic food with it, nickel can leach out. Could nickel be released from burning? Probably, at some temperature.

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Sometimes i think the vape lobby or someone else sends us people to avoid people vaping with stainless steel or simply without one of their vapes.

Life can cause diseseas, anyway.

When you warn of vaping with stainless steel, why don´t you or anyone else ever warned of smoking with stainless steel pipescreens.

vapeflame said:

Maybe, but stainless steel pipescreens are made for smoking with lighters, and in use for decades, without any studies thatsay that this stuff is dangerous or will hurt you.

I think the real danger is smoking.

I think it is one of the safest substances for smoking or vaping.

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Nugachino said:

Aren't a good portion of screens made of stainless steel anyway?

I think there'd be some cases of poisoning by now if it were toxic to vape with.

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Yup but, WHO made them? What actual material was used? Bet they came from our good buddy China. You know the people who shipped us poison toothpaste and lead painted toys for our children. These are the nice and helpful folks you can by uncut lab drugs from. Like Carfentonil - That's being used by idiots to cut heroin with, and it's 10,000 times as potent as heroin....or how about any host of synthetic crap..

I like my little glass "J" flower "screens"....Like I said, lighters hit 3.5k+ when you draw...... it's your choice. Just make one and live with your choice.
Coming in here and debating it, like you are encouraging folks to simply do what you do, with out varying points of view, on a topic that could impact their health - Isn't right. I made a point of contention. Viable point I might add. This makes for choice.....Now choose whats best - FOR YOU!

Plain old steel wool is toxic when heated - period.....

They make glass pipes to get people away from possible metal dangers,,,,,and you still stick a piece of metal at the point of highest heat?

And yes. I have a problem with those stupid little metal "ghetto" pipes too!

vapeflame said:

Sometimes i think the vape lobby or someone else sends us people to avoid people vaping with stainless steel or simply without one of their vapes.

Life can cause diseseas, anyway.

When you warn of vaping with stainless steel, why don´t you or anyone else ever warned of smoking with stainless steel pipescreens.

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A vape won't even get close to any heat point that would off gas metals! So who cares anyway! I am giving warning points on use in pipes.....Didn't even mention vaping in my first post! Chill....