The Nomad From Morwood

The Stranger said:

What do you mean the Vapman stations out? So you would no doubt recommend the Vapman to Vapcap or Lotus. Most people say Lotus for flavor and Vapman for stealth. I don't need stealth, I have the mflb for that. But for someone who just wants to try a butane vape..?

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Personally I'd suggest the hammer before the lotus (Especially since they unveiled their excellent 4/20 pricing earlier today), its a lot like a logvape with more power. Its easier to tame and more versatile than the lotus imo. I prefer my vapman to either but its not for every one. The vapman isn't a brute like the hammer or lotus but I dare say its more efficient and certainly more distinct. Anyways the vapman has an electric "heating station" available so it can serve as a desktop as well as a torch unit. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions since were getting a little off track.

shark sandwich said:

I think the ideal indicator would be small, passive, and analog- meaning it would have a dynamic response/indication range.

I've worked out a possible solution, which might work for your needs:

A small thermal well would be installed, which would extend from the exterior of the device, to the interior of the heat exchanger. A glass capsule containing Iodine would be set into the thermal well, and perhaps covered with a protector which would allow for viewing. Iodine has a phase change just around the temperatures needed, and response could be fine tuned by changing the shape or position of the thermal well.

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Now that's neat! I wonder if you could have a few in sequence tuned to different temp ranges?

Dan Morrison said:

Heating up a heat sink doesn't give you any feedback until you take a draw. But, in time, I would suspect that you would get the hang of it.. for example.. you'd just know that 6 seconds of heat time would give you the right temp.

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You are absolutely correct, most develop a feel for it pretty quick. I typically push it too far intentionally right off the bat and work back from there with new vapes. Find out what not to do and don't do it!

I think the answer is make several different vaporizers! That or concede that everyone can't be pleased. Fire seems awfully polarizing considering so many of us are former combusters.

Haakkon said:

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Interested to hear more about your heating element with cast ceramic specifically, I've been interested in exploring a similar option in a diy 510 unit. Update your thread dude!

shark sandwich said:

I think the ideal indicator would be small, passive, and analog- meaning it would have a dynamic response/indication range.

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Agreed! What about just a regular thermometer? Kinda oldschool I guess, ha. I'm sure there are lots of visual indicators out there that would work. Very neat Iodine idea.

@Haakkon , Very cool! It seems like we have very similar ideas for the body shape. I suppose it just makes sense considering the shape of the battery. Interesting post, thank you.

The Stranger said:

I wonder though, what's the glass part for on Pipe of the Clouded Nautilus, just looks or a function?

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If you look closely, there is an inner glass tube surrounded by the outer tube. The air first flows into the outer tube, and then into the inner tube to go down into the stem. So when you draw in smoke from the chamber, that entire glass tube fills with smoke. In all of my older pipes, the glass parts are always to show the smoke moving through the pipe. One day I'd like to get back to combining wood and glass, I think it looks pretty sweet!

So, in the shop today I did a little test with a tiny air-fed charcoal forge. Charcoal bits were placed in an insulated circular chamber about 1/2" in diameter by 1/2" deep. Air fed in from the side, near the bottom of the chamber.

The charcoal lit quickly and made a nice little glowing mass, with the temperature controlled by the incoming flow of air. Air blast coming out of the "forge" easily charred wood in seconds, indicating there would be enough heat to power a heat exchanger.

A 3.7v micro blower fan, (20 x 25.7 x 8.5mm) would be capable of feeding this tiny forge with air for many hours continuously on a small Li-Ion cell.

So, imagine this. A tiny forge chamber with integrated heat exchanger, blower, and tiny glass dome cover (with small hole in the top for the exhaust) so that you can view the glowing embers. Under the forge would be the herb chamber. The forge would be on a hinge mechanism to easily remove it from the herb chamber for loading/unloading while the forge was burning. The glass dome cover would also have a hinge mechanism so that more charcoal could be loaded into the forge as it burned down.

If all that worked, you'd have a vape that could be used continuously with easy to load charcoal granules. Given enough charcoal you could theoretically have a continuous 5 hour session without cooling down, and still plenty of battery life to spare.

Temperature would be controlled via fan speed.

The design would fit into a box for immediate storage with no cool-down time.

Forge/heat exchanger could also be heated with a torch lighter, without the charcoal, for 1-2 hit sessions with reduced temperature control. Charcoal would be loaded for longer sessions, multiple bowls, group sessions, and when more temperature control is wanted.

Because there is already a battery on board, it could also power a glow-wire or sparker wire located in the forge. The charcoal could be lit with drops of lighter fluid and a spark for silent ignition and coolness factor.

Imagine just passing a pre-prepped vape to your friend, and just telling him to press a little button, and BAM, the forge ignites with a pop and flame, then glows red with embers, the glass dome is closed, the silent fan kicks in and makes it glow even brighter.... ah man...

The box could hold both the vaporizer and a set of three vials, a lighter fluid eye dropper, a charcoal granule tube, and herb tube.

Hahaha, oh my god that sounds ridiculous reading it over. But I dig it.

Dan Morrison said:

The charcoal could be lit with drops of lighter fluid

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Lighter fluid? That gives me pause. I'm not sure I'd want to vape lighter fluid fumes, but I've been wrong before.

I would imagine that none of the air that goes through the furnace is part of the vapor path. The furnace air is just for heat regulation and totally isolated from the air that goes through the herb and inhaled.

@Stu , The forge would be completely isolated from the air path. @VaporSipper is correct.

The design is ambitious, but I'm going to think about it for a couple days and see where it goes.

@Dan Morrison

Dial thermometers were my first thought. They are ideal for ease of viewing and accuracy. I searched all over and couldn't find any I considered compact enough for my use, which was to be a pocketable device.

Next I looked for liquid filled thermometers. They are harder to view than the dial type, and were no more compact- the smallest I found was four inches long.

Color changing liquid crystal strips would be cool, but don't operate at high enough temperatures to be used.

Your idea about the fan assisted burner is very interesting, and reminds me of the biolite stove. It also has a fan assisted burner- what makes it interesting is that it powers itself, and can even provides extra power for charging other devices via USB. A friend of mine has one, and it works as advertised.

@shark sandwich , ahh okay. Makes sense!

And I love those Biolite stoves! I've never used one, but I respect the product, and remember seeing it way back when it was just a concept... seeing it evolve into a consumer product was very inspiring! I've been tempted to get one ever since.

A fan assisted, charcoal-powered vape with an isolated airpath and good temperature control would be awesome, and there's nothing remotely like that on the market.

I really liked the idea of the alcohol or kerosene burning version, and that it would provide a great deal of energy density. Charcoal is also a very compact heat source, and makes it a little easier to carry around extra fuel, which is nice.

Hookah charcoal is commonly available in a few different sizes- a compact and efficient forge could be designed for use with a specific charcoal shape/size.

The issues I've been encountering with liquid fuels is that the fuel itself is fiddly to contain and load..and the flame it produces is also difficult to contain and harvest heat from efficiently. You have to account for the flame always wanting to face up, and the hot exhaust as well.

Not to say it can't be done, but I don't have any solid ideas for liquid fuels right now..

I would produce my own charcoal for this, much like the Okin. The charcoal would need to fit the design. Bamboo or hardwood skewers chopped into pellets with a large guillotine blade, and carbonized at a medium-high temperature to produce easy lighting charcoal pellets of exact size. This is the only way to ensure repeatable results and temperatures.

Also, I believe the design needs to use pellets, in the size range of corn kernel to rice grain.

I worked on a charcoal concentrate device that never saw production. I was designing it around hookah charcoal because it was the best solution I could find- but I had never made my own charcoal.

The discussion of temperature regulation reminded me of another idea I had for achieving analog temperature control- I think this is the last one.

A bimetal coil or strip is placed in the airpath "behind" (airflow-wise) the heater, and a cold air port (like a carb). The rotation or bending of the strip in response to airpath temperatures would actuate a vane or reed, which would control the amount of flow allowed through the cold air port.

The strip would bend in response to a rising or falling airstream temperature, this would cause the reed to slide more or less open, allowing more or less cool air into the mix, and maintaining the vape temperature.

The vape temperature could be controlled by an adjustment knob, which would alter the springs postion. This would allow any temperature to be set and automatically maintained, even with a variable heat source.

That's a wonderful idea @shark sandwich

Well, I've been doing some more tests in the shop. And I decided that the fan-fed charcoal heat exchanger is not going to work very well. Too complex. I think that the Okin is the ultimate design for a charcoal powered vaporizer.

I have other ideas for an Okin 2, pipe edition. Same charcoal, same vaporization method, but in the form of a pipe. That's for another discussion however.

The butane heat-sink ideas have also waned. It just takes too long to heat up a good chunk of metal. Hard to get enough heat for a convection-only design.

So I'm back on concept No. 1, the single battery unregulated. I like the idea of the stem being able to move in and out to adjust heater/chamber distance. And the idea of easy to swap stems... the all glass airway... easy maintenance... no moving parts.. lots of pluses here.

I think, to set it apart from the rest of the battery market, I'd like to still focus on the aesthetics, feel, the fit and finish, user serviceability.. etc.

Here is a new rendition, cleaner, more modern. And for comparison the older style below. I think I still like the older style with the inset battery cover.. but thought I would get some thoughts on it anyhow!

Dan Morrison said:

Well, I've been doing some more tests in the shop. And I decided that the fan-fed charcoal heat exchanger is not going to work very well. Too complex. I think that the Okin is the ultimate design for a charcoal powered vaporizer.

I have other ideas for an Okin 2, pipe edition. Same charcoal, same vaporization method, but in the form of a pipe. That's for another discussion however.

The butane heat-sink ideas have also waned. It just takes too long to heat up a good chunk of metal. Hard to get enough heat for a convection-only design.

So I'm back on concept No. 1, the single battery unregulated. I like the idea of the stem being able to move in and out to adjust heater/chamber distance. And the idea of easy to swap stems... the all glass airway... easy maintenance... no moving parts.. lots of pluses here.

I think, to set it apart from the rest of the battery market, I'd like to still focus on the aesthetics, feel, the fit and finish, user serviceability.. etc.

Here is a new rendition, cleaner, more modern. And for comparison the older style below. I think I still like the older style with the inset battery cover.. but thought I would get some thoughts on it anyhow!

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Good thinking all around (that eventual fancy pipe Okin will be how I try the charcoal vaping finally! What I have been sitting for there... ). I agree with you the older design with the 4 colors is better, closer to the original old sci-fi star wars blade runner vibes imo

@Shit Snacks , Yeah I agree! It definitely feels more sci-fi star wars/bladerunner.

I'd love to get an Okinpipe into your hands!

Dan Morrison said:

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This is really coming along nicely
I'm glad you settled on the single-battery unregulated concept.
I do want one of these, the aesthetic is beautiful.
If it produces vapor all the better

I like the pic with the four different colors better than the one above it for the star wars feel

Wow, just finished reading through the thread and... wow. Can't wait for whatever the hell this ends up being. I'm hoping battery or butane, I use mostly indoors and the wife said no charcoal, but no matter what I'm sure it will be amazing looking. That design above looks so great, I'd go Boba Fett green. I'd almost want to put scorch marks/laser burns on there or something.... almost. Subscribed and waiting for more.

@StormyPinkness , Thanks for following along!

Newest rendition. I think I have a new favourite!

Sadly i REALLY dont like the above design...at all....the others are much better

I like the new design, it's aesthetically similar to some of my own work (a 510 ecig mod).
I'll share a couple pics, only because the designs are so similar:

Hmm, not that I dislike the look of the newest design, but it's a bit too box mod for me. Which actually, I guess is perfect for stealth!

wow very similar! I say something in between the new design and the four color one would be perfect

@shark sandwich , Oh wow! those are amazing! I feel like I'm seeing my concept in real life, this is so weird hahah. That gets me really excited to go forward with this design!

I can see why you made them like this, from a manufacturing standpoint. I've been trying to refine my design to be a bit easier to make... since I would like to keep the price down. My earlier design, with the two wood overhangs on each end of the battery compartment... I just KNOW those will be a bitch to make. It makes so much sense to just put a battery "tube" on there. Really cuts down on the thickness of the body as well. And if you ever dropped my previous design on a hard surface, those thin wood sections would be a problem...

Do you still make those? Have any crafting tips for me? Do you have a website? So many questions!

@Shit Snacks , I will see what I can come up with!

Thanks for the kind words, it means a lot coming from an artist with your skill.

I do still make that design- it's called the Metropolis. There aren't any available at the moment, but there's a batch in progress that should be completed soon.

My website is www.frontier-industry.com - there are more pictures of the Metropolis, as well as a previous design (called the Ironwood) that covered both sides of the tube (pictured below). The Ironwood is no longer available for the reason you mentioned in your post above- they ARE the worst to make. The experience of finishing the batch of five pictured below was so rough that I scrapped that design and spent the next year creating the Metropolis as its replacement.

I'm sure I'll have more tips as your design process progresses, and you can always shoot me a message or tag me in a post if there's something I might be able to help with.

New design isn't for me either. Much prefer the design before that with the painted stripes.