treecity, sorry I freaked you out. I surely did not mean to do that. I was going to write "don't go over 13.5 volts" but my natural tendency to want to lower that top number got the best of me. You are fine at 13.5 but do not make a habit of it. Do not leave it on 13.5 all the time. Use it intermittently only.
beach bum, you were quick on that Ambrosia purchase. It sold within minutes of getting up there. So glad you found something that made you happy, even BEFORE you see it for real.
chib, that little Myrtle Burl with the redwood burl stitch should make you a happy camper as she will cloud the socks off your fat, dense Walnut Zap. She is also very, very trippy to look at. Good move.
TheDude, could be you got too fine a grind? We do not like a fine grind around here as by the time you get the bowl even half filled, the pull is too restricted with a fine grind.
Imagine you are hot air(here we go, off the Zap train to the Zap transporter). Your job as hot air today is to vaporize herbal extracts from herbs. In order to do that via convection heat, you must travel through the stem tip contents at a reasonable speed. Not too slow and not too fast. You also must try to come in contact with as much herbal surface area as possible. Ultimately, ALL the exposed surface area of the tip contents. Imagine trying to get through just about ANY pack of a finely ground mixture. Very difficult and much of the ground material will clump and have no air passing THROUGH it. We need hot air THROUGH the contents, not just squeaking by. If the stem pack is coarser grind and loosely packed, you as the hot air can get right through it and pick up lots of goodies along the way. You can always consciously slow the draw if the stem pack is on the loose side. A slower draw will make for hotter air. Empathy with the Flow is what we need to work these babies correctly.
NYC, that be a lateral crack that happens very rarely. The harder woods like Black Locust seem more prone to doing that. For what it is worth, we are getting very little serious cracking of our wood. One here and there, considering how many are out there, is not much. Very dry wood to start is the key. Then we do our best to keep them that way by storing our blocks in the house. Nothing like a wood heated house in the winter to keep humidity way down.
Some stock will go back up if the customer orders via MO or check. I notify them of my address for sending payment and if it does not make it in a week, especially with no other communication from the customer, back she goes in stock. I do use Email for communication of our shipping address on those orders.
Vito, Kushin arrived safely. I do believe we will be able to straighten her out without surgery. Vito attempted to tighten the heatport in his old style brass Zap and got her top hole tweaked out of shape. She is one of Vitos favorites as she runs so hot. Yup, a hot blonde.....with her hole tweaked........might know something like that would happen with one of Vitos girls. Maybe it is just jealousy?
Now here we go with the beauty of the language.
jealousy= jee, this is lousy.
Back out of the Transporter and into the station.
Cluffy, can't wait for you to get your special piece of Elm that helps bring back fond memories.
I expect to be getting most orders, etc done today for a Tuesday trip out of Zapville.
Did you all catch the copout word? Always gotta stick that in there with another good weather day due today.
I do not think holding your Zap in your hands is going to lower the heat. I do think that your power was probably the problem. I have often wondered how my Zaps can be cooler sometimes than others when using the same power source. It's all about supply and demand on the grid. Could of also had something to do with your cord. 
Glad Rick is taking care of you like he always does. Best customer service in vaping.
