Firewood Vaporizer

hitsfrpmthevape said:

First time poster here! Hello all from the Caribbean!
I am a proud owner of a Firewood 3 (Walnut), yesterday I was with a couple of friends and we were using the FW. Something that I would like if Marc is going to keep using the same capsule system (that I love btw) in the FW4, that the extra capsules have different o-ring's colors so when you are sharing it each one could know who's capsule is for each one of the users or for different strains in each capsules.
I hope that you can take the idea, sorry english is not my first language and just used my 2nd capsule of the day.

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I've collected a couple lip balm lids to use as mouthpiece caps and sometimes to code for strain: red for Strawberry Diesel, white for White Haze…
My current lip balm stick has an orange cap, so hopefully I can find some Agent Orange or Tangie or something soon!

RUDE BOY said:

Marc already discontinued the FW3 on the website, now i won't be able to pick up a new 3 as a back-up and I don't believe i'll want an FW4 'cause I Hate having chargers around for 18650s as they're not practical for me at this time.

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Baked55 said:

Ya was also disappointed to see that the 3 was discontinued. I was ready to pull the trigger on one and now not sure what to do as I was looking to get a vape within the next couple weeks and not sure how long the wait for the 4 may be.

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try here.

I am surprised that he has discontinued the fw3 so soon.

It seems to have a good reputation and has been compared favourably to a number of new vapes coming out. I would think that this type of feedback would drive sales as people read about it in other threads and check it out.

Maybe he is putting all his time into the fw4 instead

Vapenvy said:

I am surprised that he has discontinued the fw3 so soon.

It seems to have a good reputation and has been compared favourably to a number of new vapes coming out. I would think that this type of feedback would drive sales as people read about it in other threads and check it out.

Maybe he is putting all his time into the fw4 instead

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I tracked the stock on the website from January to April this year and it seemed that he was restocking twice per week with 5-8 units of each wood type. conservatively, 25 weeks x 2 restocks x 15 units = 750 units that need to be made and shipped, not to mention serviced, parts available, email support time, etc. There's no doubt the demand is there (for a couple of months they sold out nearly immediately) but the one-man operation can only handle so much. Kudos to Marc for innovating, my FW3 is my favorite vape experience (though not my daily driver) and I'm excited to experience the FW4.

i feel a little slow but is there a trick for getting the screen to stay still in the mouthpiece? Everytime i push it down its never stable. I think i might try making my own out of some ss mesh

blackbur said:

i feel a little slow but is there a trick for getting the screen to stay still in the mouthpiece? Everytime i push it down its never stable. I think i might try making my own out of some ss mesh

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The lil basket one at the bottom of the glass chamber? Yeah that guy sucks sometimes. I had to take it out and bend it open a little more. That's all that worked for me.
I think it's luck of the draw more than anything. I got a new mouthpiece that sits much better than my other one.

I don't mind swappable batteries, as long as when you install the battery they last a long time. I can get like 7-8 capsules usually on mine before needing a charge? So at least that. The biggest plus to the FW is it's compact design and having to bring extra batteries or a charger kind of detracts from that aspect for me.

I wouldn't mind a button......but I kind of also like the draw sensor. It takes some getting used too.......I actually tend to not share my FW, and use it just by myself, because it does take some getting used too. But a strong draw at the top to turn the heater on is all you need, almost button esque in a sense if you get used to taking a 1 sec primer....incorporate that puff into your FW technique and the results are much less variable, IMO.

I do have problems walking with it? With the sensor? Idk, maybe too many things going on at once and I can't handle the sensor lol. But I tend to get finicky results when I'm actively moving with it and trying to use it.....much better success sitting on my porch or couch or car or wherever.

I love the capsule system, but I wouldn't be against a screen on the bottom and for it to use a more stem like system (like how you guys use the Hammer stems)

I agree that the FW is harsh with the stock mouthpiece. I lucked out, they opened a new headshop by me, I went in and go something that looks kind of like this:



I thought I had a photo, but I don't and I'm not home right now. That's just a 18mm reducer to a 14mm. The one I have, has a bit extra glass (1-4 cm?) coming out the bottom of the 18mm part, basically like the lip of a stem. That was best investment I ever made with FW tbh, as it cools the vapor a decent bit, but it doesn't rob you of sensing....sometimes when I use through a waterpipe I find the draw sensor to be a bit finicky as well.....much prefer it as a direct draw sipper.

I still use my FW a ton, it's a favorite for chilling on the couch while watching the boob tube. I recently moved and have it packed up, maybe I'll dig it out later... it wouldn't be my first vaporizer if you're gonna be using with groups, but you'd be hard pressed for me to recommend another personal battery convection one.

Love loading up capsules for the day/evening and just taking my time with them. Looking forward to seeing what you churn out FW!

@Edric al-Fali Thanks, few days ago i took the screen out then flattened it. Used a small packing tool to shape it and force it back in. cant wait to see the new model.

how much is the firewood 4 going to be ?

After my beloved Arizer Air got run over by a car today, I am in the market for a new vape. At the moment I am looking at the Grasshopper, Firewood and a new Arizer Air, slightly tending towards the FW since Marc is going to release a budget version without battery and internal charger. I also like the fact that it is made of wood and how it positions itself between session and on-demand vapes (not providing sessions as long as the Air does and not as quick extraction as the Grasshopper, right?). Since my tolerance is super low, 2 big puffs off my Air usually got me where I wanted to be.

Am I right to assume that the FW4 is going to be released fairly soon since the FW3 already has been discontinued?

Seeing a lot of Grasshopper early-adopters faced with faulty units (some having gone through 16 warranty claims), how likely is it that the first FW4s are going to have similar issues? Were the first FW3/2/1s alright?

dopse said:

After my beloved Arizer Air got run over by a car today, I am in the market for a new vape. At the moment I am looking at the Grasshopper, Firewood and a new Arizer Air, slightly tending towards the FW since Marc is going to release a budget version without battery and internal charger. I also like the fact that it is made of wood and how it positions itself between session and on-demand vapes (not providing sessions as long as the Air does and not as quick extraction as the Grasshopper, right?). Since my tolerance is super low, 2 big puffs off my Air usually got me where I wanted to be.

Am I right to assume that the FW4 is going to be released fairly soon since the FW3 already has been discontinued?

Seeing a lot of Grasshopper early-adopters faced with faulty units (some having gone through 16 warranty claims), how likely is it that the first FW4s are going to have similar issues? Were the first FW3/2/1s alright?

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Once I got through the learning curve, my FW3 has been flawless and my tastiest vape. It may not extract as quickly as the GH but it's still pretty fast (and tastier). The jury is still out on my two GH...no major problems yet but some intermittent odd behavior (plus, you'll be lucky to get a new GH within 12 months unless you're able to grab one from a retailer -- mine took 15 months).

To me slower extraction is no negative, though. I like to get back to a chamber for a few puffs again and again. Therefore the Firewood not overcooking the herbs would be a major upgrade for my use personally.

dopse said:

Seeing a lot of Grasshopper early-adopters faced with faulty units (some having gone through 16 warranty claims), how likely is it that the first FW4s are going to have similar issues? Were the first FW3/2/1s alright?

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Mine is one of the first FW3s and it's still going strong, through 3-5 capsules a day! It came with me on a couple flights to Colorado and snowboarding and hiking around the mountains The worst that's happened was one time when it wouldn't turn on until I reseated the batteries.

I don't recall seeing many problems reported in this thread at all either… the wood is fairly thin and could break if you drop it hard, but otherwise FW is really solid.

This sounds very promising. I really hope it is going to be worth the wait. I guess I will once again rely on the Vaponic.

If I have my FW3 set to heat level 3, and then i press the button after that's set, does it go to heat level 4? I pressed the button on accident while on level 3, and afterwards it was a lot easier to get to the temp I like. I usually avoid level 4 out of fear of combustion. Would anyone have advice on how to avoid combustion on heat level 4?

hypnos said:

If I have my FW3 set to heat level 3, and then i press the button after that's set, does it go to heat level 4? I pressed the button on accident while on level 3, and afterwards it was a lot easier to get to the temp I like. I usually avoid level 4 out of fear of combustion. Would anyone have advice on how to avoid combustion on heat level 4?

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so you first pressed 3 times to put in in Temp 3, and then you push the button 1 more time? If that is the case you where back to temp 1 not 4, for temp 4 you have to push the button 4 times in arrow.

Could someone please stop me from pulling the trigger on a Grasshopper? (reseller so no waiting) What are good reasons to wait for the FW4?

dopse said:

Could someone please stop me from pulling the trigger on a Grasshopper? (reseller so no waiting) What are good reasons to wait for the FW4?

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I been waiting for my Hopper a very long time, And if you order today you certainly won't get it this year probably not even till spring and that's if they pick up the pace more. I have had over five missed ship dates for my Hopper, They also seem to have a lot of failures. I recall seeing somebody on warranty 10 or 11 and that was over a month ago, It does not seem to be isolated either plenty of people had have to send the same hopper in 5 plus times. The only reason's i don't just cancel mine is because i know i'm only 4-6 week's from getting mine, And i have a need for a instant convection unit that don't look like a Vaporizer.

Thank you for the quick answer, vapor loop. Since someone on Reddit is offering a new unit he would otherwise send back to the reseller, I would not have to play the waiting game. While I do not have to get the stealthiest vape possible, the aesthetics and stealth the Grasshopper provides are tempting. The FW4 is most likely going to be something I would not feel comfortable to carry around in a repressive country on a day to day basis.

dopse said:

Could someone please stop me from pulling the trigger on a Grasshopper? (reseller so no waiting) What are good reasons to wait for the FW4?

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What are you looking for? The GH extracts a little bit faster but if you want flavor, the FW is the way to go.

Both are stealthy in terms of odor. Probably equal in terms of effect. I wouldn't hit either in public but both are stealthy to store.

If I need speed, GH wins. If I want to appreciate the flower, it's FW all the way.

Plus the new fw4 will heat up to temp quicker. So maybe the fw4 will be on par with the grasshopper in that aspect. Also it will probably be adaptable to a water piece right away.

Coming from an Arizer Air, I definitely value flavour and I cannot afford to take a gamble with the Grasshopper at the moment. The design the Grasshopper guys have come up with is superb and I hope they will be offering a reliable and maybe even improved version sometime in the future when I am in the market for another vaporizer.

However, if the FW4 can live up to @firewood 's claims to make it even more aesthetically pleasing and smaller, I might not be tempted to go for a Hopper down the road. I am looking forward to reading all the upcoming announcements in this thread.

I would recommend the Firewood to anyone who has any experience with vaporizers. Unless you want a party bowl; this is a great personal one. Battery life is very admirable. It would only be less than ideal if you were dead set on bowl size and raw power with no compromises.

The mouthpiece is painfully short and you will get pizza mouth burns if you use it like this nonstop. Of course so many people here have solutions for that. I used the silicone banding from a broken mouthpiece and made a long stem using my EQ tubing.

As far as being a true portable, this is as good as I have seen. Even with the stem/mouthpiece removed, the chamber is contained as part of the mouthpiece. I leave the chamber in my car and bring the body in and nobody smells it. I have never spilled by accident and the mouthpiece has never fallen out. For comparison, a certain other wooden vape hits like a powerhouse and draw resistance if comfortably free, but the airflow is inefficient for small batches and the mouthpiece is fragile and loose sitting. That sits on my coffee table and gets used when I have to charge my FW3.

I don't agree that it has slow extraction. I feel like the shape of the chamber lets the heat go right where it needs to. The air path is kinda tight, which is a downside for me, but not enough to stop it from being my primary. I can tap out a chamber after a few hits if I wanted to.

There are fewer unreliable FWs out there than there are GHs. Getting a warranty replacement is quick enough if the FW fails. In fact, the most unreliable thing about Firewoods is the variation in quality between units.

I think this is the reason there are mixed results on the heater. I had one FW3 that I put on the highest heat setting and at 4 to get good results. I had a warranty replacement for something else and the new one gets much much hotter. I get the same heat from the 3rd setting with no raising of the other heat setting.

Edric al-Fali said:

I would recommend the Firewood to anyone who has any experience with vaporizers. Unless you want a party bowl; this is a great personal one. Battery life is very admirable. It would only be less than ideal if you were dead set on bowl size and raw power with no compromises.

The mouthpiece is painfully short and you will get pizza mouth burns if you use it like this nonstop. Of course so many people here have solutions for that. I used the silicone banding from a broken mouthpiece and made a long stem using my EQ tubing.

As far as being a true portable, this is as good as I have seen. Even with the stem/mouthpiece removed, the chamber is contained as part of the mouthpiece. I leave the chamber in my car and bring the body in and nobody smells it. I have never spilled by accident and the mouthpiece has never fallen out. For comparison, a certain other wooden vape hits like a powerhouse and draw resistance if comfortably free, but the airflow is inefficient for small batches and the mouthpiece is fragile and loose sitting. That sits on my coffee table and gets used when I have to charge my FW3.

I don't agree that it has slow extraction. I feel like the shape of the chamber lets the heat go right where it needs to. The air path is kinda tight, which is a downside for me, but not enough to stop it from being my primary. I can tap out a chamber after a few hits if I wanted to.

There are fewer unreliable FWs out there than there are GHs. Getting a warranty replacement is quick enough if the FW fails. In fact, the most unreliable thing about Firewoods is the variation in quality between units.

I think this is the reason there are mixed results on the heater. I had one FW3 that I put on the highest heat setting and at 4 to get good results. I had a warranty replacement for something else and the new one gets much much hotter. I get the same heat from the 3rd setting with no raising of the other heat setting.

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Thank you so much for the extensive post, Edric.

With the new cooling mouthpiece in the FW4 I do not think hot hits are going to be a problem. When it comes to higher temperatures, I think a water tool is the best option, anyway.

When it comes to THC-sensitivity I am a lightweight. Usually it only took me 2 to 3 puffs off my Arizer Air to feel moderately medicated for at least 2 and a half hours. So I only need very little per session. In my Air 3g of high quality herbs lasted me for 3 months of daily usage. My understanding of convection/conduction lets me come to the conclusion that convection is better suited for my microdoses since nothing is lost in the cool-down which conduction units have.

Do you think @firewood will be able to eliminate common inconsistencies with the new design? Being EU-based means that warranty exchanges would turn out to be quite costly for me.

dopse said:

Do you think @firewood will be able to eliminate common inconsistencies with the new design? Being EU-based means that warranty exchanges would turn out to be quite costly for me.

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A few comments regarding inconsistencies...

One source of inconsistency is the normal variation of the electrical components. To deal with this I do a calibration on each unit, but that calibration isn't perfect so there is some variation. For fw4 I have come up with a new way to do the calibration that should theoretically give much better results and just finished building a programming/calibration/test interface unit that will enable this much improved calibration. Initial results are promising so i think this will make a significant difference.

The switch to 18650s and higher power should also help. The fw4 heater is more capable of keeping up with faster draw speeds, so you won't get users on one hand who draw slowly and get great consistent results and users on the other hand that like to draw faster and get less consistent results (maybe the faster technique works on a full charge but not low for example).

btw, the higher power is also seeming to improve draw restriction on my development unit. I think the main source of draw restriction (probably for any vape) is when some of the vapors condense right away on the downstream herbs and screen area. You might also get some oils migrating to that area without ever vaporizing. The result is an oily clumpy area right behind the screen that reduces airflow. Higher power can help reduce this because you can't make the mistake of drawing too fast, which causes the temp to drop too much, making the problem worse.