Since my pipe screen was always getting clogged up I tried putting a ball of steel wool in there instead. I cooked it first with a lighter to burn off any shit that might be on it. The good news is that it works much better than a screen. It never gets clogged up. You just tap out the ashes and it's good to go.
Whether or not heating steel wool in a pipe is safe or not, I don't know. I guess it must be stainless steel, since it's shiny. I don't heat it more than needed anyway. If you heated it red hot it might put off some kind of metal vapor, who knows. I'm not recommending it. I would recommend a scrunched up ball of titanium wire or vape coil if available. I wouldn't even heat titanium red hot though, just to be cautious.
Speaking of vape coils though, could just install a titanium coil right in a pipe bowl and power it from an adapter. Sure would beat handling a torch in the living room. Just not a good combination, torch and living room. I wonder how much current you'd need. You can get the
wire pretty cheap actually. That page mentions that it's not good to get it so hot that it forms an oxide, which may be unhealthy. Maybe stainless steel wool is the best choice after all.
This is the kind I used. What about the people who heat up titanium nails with torches though? Are they producing some oxide and then breathing the dust in? The lesson is not to heat the thing up red hot. Only needs to be about 180 C to vape THC.