Discontinued Lil' Bud by Vapwood

Bravesst

Full Steam Ahead
Manufacturer
Good Morning FC,
I updated the site with projected shipping for batches 6 and 7. I can't believe we are talking about batch 7. That's a lot of Lil' Buds! I'm hoping that things can speed up a bit, and all things point to that happening. Every process is becoming more streamlined and consistent.

I realize I have to turn my attention to the battery gauge, as this batch calls for quite a few. I apologize for the long turn around time on it. I want people to realize, it's not a replacement backplate for LB with a gauge. It's a gauge, and like most battery gauges, it has two terminals that are touched to the battery (in this case slipped behind the battery terminals on LB). I will put out a video of the finished product, and how it functions.

More importantly, there has been a refinement of just about every Lil' Bud process. I've spent the last five months scouring the internet for parts and tools. My two shops are very well equipped for LB building. My wood shop is the place I cut stock to size, cut mortises for the battery, route grooves for the backplate and round edges, as well as drill out for the stem, coil, switch.

Inside, at my *work desk*, all LB parts are stored on book shelves, in labeled coffee cans (love coffee). Switches, terminals, screws, wire, magnets, and on and on. Here is where I form coils, and do the roughing out for the LB bodies, as well as final assembly and finish.

I'm a lucky guy to have such a great set up to fulfill a passion in my life - Building high quality, wooden, dry herb convection vaporizers.

Have a great day!
 
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MAbud

Well-Known Member
Cool to see these progressing.

Any update on that unit with potential mold? Has it been received back and inspected yet?
 
MAbud,
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Bravesst

Full Steam Ahead
Manufacturer
@P.A.M. enjoying LB a bit this morning?

@MAbud
The LB in question has arrived. There will be a thorough inspection in the upcoming days, but no matter what I find the advice will be the same, keep all your wood vaporizers dry. Water and wood, especially in concealed spaces, is never good. When they leave here, you can count on the fact that the wood is a dry as possible.

Here's an image mid assembly, my face is about 10 inches from LB for hours on end. I'm in there with glasses, magnifying glass, flashlights - sanding, filing, drilling, screwing. This wood is stellar clean, dry, and hand finished. No matter, pour some water in there, let it sit for a while in dark humid spot, and mold is possible. It would make me think twice about buying a second hand unit from someone I didn't know. God knows where that vape has been.

LmY8OJT.jpg

note, this is LB coil installed, just about ready to install the switchbox. The tape holds the disk in place until the switchbox is installed and locked in, then easily removed. I've no only had my face in here, but sanded every surface of this unit, inside and out.
 

Bravesst

Full Steam Ahead
Manufacturer
Long day in the shop, nothing too exciting, just progress on the 20 units. I've got stock laid out for an extra few bodies that I need to complete the batch. I haven't sent anything out yet, as I usually don't do that to the week of the shipping. If it wasn't for the trip to Denver, these would have been two batches of 10, much easier. 20 units are just a lot of work. The clerk at the post office is gonna hate me. I just may have to do it in two days.

LB UPGRADES
The vent holes have shrunk from 3/16 to 5/32, barely perceptible difference. Alan mentioned that he felt anywhere between 1/8 and 1/4, as long as there's 3, is really no difference. More about appearance and ease of finish.

Coils are wound a bit tighter, providing a hair more clearance from coil to wood. I anticipate even less heat will radiate into the body, and that spells more efficient.

Edges on top and bottom are a bit more rounded over. This is just more sanding at finish time. In a batch of 20, this is a lot of work.

NEW WOOD
Pretty soon I'll be taking special orders for these new woods I've acquired.

Quilted Maple
This is insane stuff, and tough to get in the thickness I need, but I found some. think I have enough for about 10 units.

Coffee Tree
Sassafras

Never used these two woods before, but they look nice

Some Gnarly Walnut - I found this hunk of crazy grained walnut, gonna be tough to work with, bound to have issues, but worth it.

Not sure what pricing on the special woods will be, but slightly higher, as I pay much more these small pieces of specialty hardwood than when I buy an 8 foot board of cherry, walnut, or maple.
 
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CaptVapor

Well-Known Member
NEW WOOD
Pretty soon I'll be taking special orders for these new woods I've acquired.

Quilted Maple
This is insane stuff, and tough to get in the thickness I need, but I found some. think I have enough for about 10 units.

Coffee Tree
Sassafras

Never used these two woods before, but they look nice

Some Gnarly Walnut - I found this hunk of crazy grained walnut, gonna be tough to work with, bound to have issues, but worth it.

Not sure what pricing on the special woods will be, but slightly higher, as I pay much more these small pieces of specialty hardwood than when I buy an 8 foot board of cherry, walnut, or maple.

Wow, I would give up my place in line to get in on the new wood action!
 

P.A.M.

Vapo Rising
Wow, I would give up my place in line to get in on the new wood action!
That's tempting! Twist my arm a lil more ! reading about the upgrades , I can imagine how even more kick ass the LB will be..

It is already very easy draw and cool , smaller vent holes can only sweeten the flow and perhaps give more "choke" control if desired . it's also already quite cool , unless I really push the unit , where it gets warm but still handlable and pocketable . Sounds more like fine tuning then upgrades but still enough tease or reason to want another!

As for exotic woods , that's also cool , the quilted Maple will probably rock, i built a few guitars, acoustic & electric using quilted maple..

KKJ3BWG.jpg

LMymLEW.jpg
 

Bravesst

Full Steam Ahead
Manufacturer
Thanks for the info @PPN, not taking any chances, sassafras is out, but quilted maple seems to be a big hit. I just posted Quilted Maple for sale on the website while supplies last. Here's a sample of some unfinished stock.
dIo9sOw.jpg
 
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Bravesst

Full Steam Ahead
Manufacturer
I've been contacted by a few members from the current batch, who want to bump up to quilted maple. Got me thinking. If anyone from this batch (4/5) who wants a quilted maple unit, and is willing to wait until batch 6 (about 3 weeks or so), I'm going to offer a one time upgrade at no charge. This is a $20 value on what seems to be a very popular choice. Those who already contacted me, and I've replied, you're all set.

If you are in in batch 4/5 and want to do this. Just PM me. For me, this will accomplish two things. First, getting batch 4/5 out will be easier. Secondly, I get to circulate some really awesome quilted maple units that will basically sell themselves. This is a one time only offer, and if you love quilted maple, a great deal.
 

Bravesst

Full Steam Ahead
Manufacturer
I'm sitting here trying to accomplish some "work", and I realize how faceless I am. It's like I'm sitting over here, and the rest of me is sitting over there. If that makes sense to you, you might own a LB. :rofl: So easy for that to happen when I'm on the computer "working". Load a stem with next to nothing, hit a couple of keys, press button, inhale. That's been going on for about an hour or so, not much work being done.
 

Bravesst

Full Steam Ahead
Manufacturer
So to continue with my awesome evening...

A friend came over, and got their first experience with LB. An occasional smoker, not heavy user, with some minor vaping experience, I handed him Lil' Bud. I did all the prep work / load, tamp, even took the first hit to prep things. First hit was ridiculously big with no combustion. My only instruction was, "press the button and inhale". He passed Lil' Bud back to me and I took a sip and gave it right back.

Another monster hit, no combustion, no instruction. And this is when I really understood how well LB extracts, as he looked right past me and rather shakily uttered the words, "I think I'm too high" (is that a thing?).

Good Morning FC!!!
 

RushVaporTrails

Well-Known Member
"I think I'm too high" (is that a thing?).

Well actually, it is a thing, but not necessarily a bad thing. Depends on how you look at it.

This is my first ever post on FC!!!!

Been lurking in the shadows for months now but wasn't ready to join in.

I was going to wait to write anything until my Batch 5 Lil Bud arrived and I did a review but recent developments, i.e. QUILTED MAPLE, have got me excited enough to post a bit earlier.

Thanks to @Bravesst, I now find myself very excited to be in batch 6 with a quilted maple Lil Bud about to be created.

It's been an awesome ride so far keeping up with all the details @Bravesst provides about his progress in the shop and on road trips.

Also want to give a big shout out to @P.A.M. who is the only one besides @Bravesst (that i know about) to shoot some videos of the Lil Bud in action, an extremely valuable resource for those interested in buying one, allowing all of us to see it in action.

especially like the

unofficial Vape'chute Vapor Lung Presentation

also appreciate the discussion of screens between @P.A.M. and @beyond6strings, I already ordered both kinds discussed.

 

beyond6strings

Just another traveller in the Cannaverse
Well actually, it is a thing, but not necessarily a bad thing. Depends on how you look at it.

This is my first ever post on FC!!!!

Been lurking in the shadows for months now but wasn't ready to join in.

I was going to wait to write anything until my Batch 5 Lil Bud arrived and I did a review but recent developments, i.e. QUILTED MAPLE, have got me excited enough to post a bit earlier.

Thanks to @Bravesst, I now find myself very excited to be in batch 6 with a quilted maple Lil Bud about to be created.

It's been an awesome ride so far keeping up with all the details @Bravesst provides about his progress in the shop and on road trips.

Also want to give a big shout out to @P.A.M. who is the only one besides @Bravesst (that i know about) to shoot some videos of the Lil Bud in action, an extremely valuable resource for those interested in buying one, allowing all of us to see it in action.

especially like the

unofficial Vape'chute Vapor Lung Presentation

also appreciate the discussion of screens between @P.A.M. and @beyond6strings, I already ordered both kinds discussed.

Welcome to FC. Happy you jumped in. I was a lurker for a very long time before I jumped in myself. It's a great group generally on FC full of experience and always willing to help out.

Cheers, ken
 

RushVaporTrails

Well-Known Member
Thanks Ken, much appreciated, not sure why it is that for some reason I needed to just read the forum endlessly before posting.

It feels good to finally break the ICE. Will feel even better when I get the LB in hand and get it ready for its maiden voyage!!!
 

P.A.M.

Vapo Rising
Hey @RushVaporTrails ! Indeed , welcome to FC and thanks for the shout out! Posting gets easier after your First Post, you'll be posting videos too in no time, lol .. happy you are joining the conversation and early congrats on the Quilted Maple LB!! The wait won't be much longer and you'll have a "first batch Exotic Woods" unit! Nice!

As for "screens" , let's not forget the S&B capsules that @cpk uses for screens in the LB as well! I still haven't found a source to buy them at low price and seems they are only available in bulks.. I did order the rimmed screens last night . It will be great to have you @RushVaporTrails , join the screen discussion and read your opinions/review of the Lil'Bud !

nice to hear the videos are reaching and helping some of you learn more of Lil' Bud :) One of the video's is getting close to 100views and my latest "MonkeyTime", a few days ago, is already up to 28views. Some are being shared too. Thank you to everyone watching and sharing ! Views are coming in from all over the world, I'll have to take a few screenshots of the analytics to share with @Bravesst . Many of the "views" are from straight up YouTube searches .

Vape on!:rockon:
 

Bravesst

Full Steam Ahead
Manufacturer
Welcome to the thread @RushVaporTrails, and can't wait for batch 6 myself - exotic woods, Woo Hoo!. Just set someone up with some really gnarly black walnut as well.

Just got my hands on some more quilted maple. Batch 6 is gonna be sweet. I'm looking forward to working with maple again. Built lots of maple furniture over the years, but these will be my first LB. As @P.A.M. pointed out, maple is a closed pore, and a quite hard hardwood. It's relatively easy to work (maybe not as easy a cherry, but easier than walnut - at least for me in this capacity). I hope the quilted stuff planes well, because that'll really bring out the shimmering qualities of this unique wood.
 

Diggy Smalls

Notorious
Quilted maple is very beautiful. These I'm sure will look stunning. Figured walnut and quilted maple would be an awesome combo for sure. One day I'll own an LB, but I'm not buying a second hand one. No telling how someone treats it, and wood is a porous material. I don't even know how one would clean a wooden stem well enough to remove all germs. A glass stem is very easy to clean and resell in this way. Hey, there's limitations to every choice. The limitation to glass is that it's not wood. :p
 

MonkeyTime

Well-Known Member
@Bravesst , can you tell me how big that stock was? I've worked Maple and Birdseye veneer, but never seen this in person. I'm trying to figure out if the grain is larger than those or if it's just the depth of it in the picture. It's a beautiful piece and is going to look incredible in smaller, usable pieces!

The job change has taken a pause for medical reasons within the company. I held out thru 4/20, but with that change, the gf in FL with sisters, I've had a day of clearing trees on a incredible summer day, steak fajitas marinating, a brisket ready to smoke for tomorrow and a seat on the porch with a margarita. The only thing missing was.... That relaxation that hits you when its been a long time and you get a very smooth, very tasty, very too large-coughing hit from your LB. I'm smiling, hard.

I think it's time to make one of those vapor lungs and a video :freak:
 

DirtyD

Well-Known Member
This is the only vape I've ever owned where you feel the effects kick in before you exhale.... been noticed it lately since I'm getting better at it
Absolutely loving this all cherry vaporizer. Face melted again, Thanks so much again Mike. Cheers, D.
 
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MonkeyTime

Well-Known Member
Cheers and may the fifth be with you! I am working on a fifth of Highland Park 18yo.
Thanks!

I'd love to try that! I was gifted a bottle of Old Pulteney 21yo that became an instant favorite.

Ok, these are my first wood stems and they're looking dry like the bodies. I know how to handle those, do you oil/wax the stems the same?
 
MonkeyTime,
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