I'd be glad to post a picture of the Machine, but I won't be near mine until Tuesday. I will post it as soon as I can. A Hennesy bottle is chosen for a reason. It has an inverted cone shaped bottom, which allows for the puncturing of a small hole in the bottom of the bottle. As for steel wool, I have fine stuff in mine, and all you need to do is keep the direct flame away from it. You shouldn't put the flame to DMT anyway. I know a lot of you are giving other suggestions here that all work, but I'm telling you, once you try the Machine, you won't use anything else. It is the sort of thing I would shout from the rooftops, if I thought anyone was listening. Standby, and I will post a picture as soon as I can.
Oh, and yes, a very small amount crystalizes on the bottle but not much. It is surprisingly efficient. Much less crystalizes than a glass dick. Also, because the glass is thick and you do not apply the lighter to the glass, the pipe does not get hot, which is much safer than a bulb or glass dick, particularly when smoking solo. I've burned myself before and it's not fun.
I have no idea why this damn thing works so well ... it just does. It must be something about the bottle shape that allows for good aerodynamics of the vapour stream. When my buddy gave it to me, I didn't think anything of it. Although I was grateful, I thought "big deal, a pipe made out of a bottle" ... then I tried it out ...