Hi bumclot,
I see it's been some time since your post. If you're still interested, I have some info. Stone pipes hit well if they are made properly. Alot of the cheap ones have small holes, and flat bottom bowls. Not good. You want one with a larger hole (not huge), and a cone shaped bowl. No, they don't get hot, and aren't hard to clean. You want to treat them somewhat gently...no tapping on the ashtray. Mass produced pipes might not be the best way to go. I have a good friend who carves stone pipes. You can see some of his work at stonehands.etsy.com Hope this helps.