ClearBlueLou
unbearably light in the being....
Good advice from Squiby, as always: anyone who's ever hit a tight joint has had to pull MUCH HARDER than on even a fully-packed 'Cap, so use your history to adapt, you mammals!
Here's two words on 'orientation': 1) when folks talk about heating, they refer to 'up' and 'down': these are relative to the clicky end of the cap, which is 'up,, as opposed to the fin/tip end, which is 'down'; 2) when folks talk about adjusting the Omni's condenser, the orientation is looking AT the mouthpiece end, from which viewpoint clockwise (opening the flow) and counter-clockwise (closing down the flow) make sense.
Took me a month or more to get those things sorted out in my head, but once I did, it made a HUGE difference in my performance and satisfaction!
Okay, THREE words: using a torch with these is an art - and that art changes between SS & Ti - and between torches. People who have trouble w/ combustion have IMO either set their flames too high, and/or hold their 'Caps too close, and/or aren't rotating like they "ought" (ie, too slow/uneven). Practice helps immensely, even for this arthritic old wreck...
...OTOH, those who aren't getting the vapor, etc they want likely have their flames set so low that they flicker, and/or they hold the 'Cap too far out from the torch for fear of combustion (guilty on both counts).After climbing this learning curve w/ both M and Omni, I find that the inline triple is perfect for SS, and the dual is perfect for Ti (having not tried the quad): I set the flames as low as I can get them without any flickering, I keep the cap ~1/4 inch above the deep blue base flame - and I try to remember that HEAT RISES, so don't forget about the up/down angle between torch and cap (so easy to hit it from the side and lose much heat.!
The proper balance is between those factors; the only remaining major variable is the rotation, and without video, I'll have to describe, so bear with me: if nothing else, I have no spinny-mouthpiece contraptions so this is ALL based on the others. Understand that this is descriptive of my success, not instructions - use it as a guide:
- hold the 'Cap right in the middle, between the thumb tip and middle-finger tip, so you can roll it
- lay the 'Cap along the fingertip joints, tip UP, mouthpiece resting against the fingertip joint (still holding)
- brace the 'Cap with the index and ring-finger tips
- roll the 'Cap between thumb & middle in this supported position (I push w/ thumb & pull w/ middle)
- on click, roll until you see the air-hole, cover it, and carry on
With practice this becomes fluid, stable, comfortable, eliminates hot-spots, and vastly improves consistency!
Don't give up, don't get mad, just keep practicing (you'll be buzzed, so no sweat on that!)!
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If you have the engineering chops (or the spare money) to hack your cap, go for it - but the cap is really quite delicate, yet easy to work with: imagine you were sculpting tinfoil, VERY LITTLE pressure is actually needed, it just needs to be balanced around the circumference of the cap - and consistent from top to bottom.I'm not sure if it's what you mean, but I also have a bit of a hard time sucking on my M, the infamous straw-in-the-milkshake feeling.
Your post made me wonder if that could be because of the tightness of my cap. I've noticed that, compared to when I started using my M, my cap got tighter, it's harder to put it in on the tip if it makes sense...the walls of the cap grind on the tip, I just have to press a bit.
So this made me wonder...is it possible that less air is coming in from the bottom of the M, resulting in a bigger draw resistance? Should I try to enlarge the cap a bit?
Cheers!
EDIT: re-reading my post, don't know if it's because I'm high in the sky or because I have the mind of a 14 yo but I'm laughing at all the sucking, the tightness and the grinding on the tip.
Peace out guys!
Have a great day
Re: air-flow, I confess from time to time I will put on the cap, then pull it UP a millimeter before heating. That improves airflow quite adequately for me - accomplishes the same end as filing grooves in the top edge of the SS tip, for example, but non-destructive (not that I want to prevent DV from selling more caps, but I'd wait 'til they re-start cap engraving before breaking one.
PS - love your username - reminds me of "Baron Barracuda" from the old 'Diver Dan' kid's show back in the 50s!
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Looks great, @Derrrpp! Couple questions?Alright, I promised I'd post pictures of my heat anodized 4th Gen tip... Sorry it took way longer than I anticipated, but I finally snapped a couple decent pics of it today. Here they are:
It's fun to add a little color to your Ti tip, and really easy too. All you need is a needle nose pliers to hold the tip. Presumably, everyone already has a torch lighter or two on hand. Make sure the tip is as clean as possible, dirt and oils will hinder the formation of the oxide layer (which is what makes it look colorful!). Heat it evenly and slowly; as you get past the bronze color and into the purples/blues the colors will come quickly, and once you pass a color you can't go back to it.
And BE CAREFUL!!! Don't burn yourself! This process involves heating the tip until it is almost red-hot. Way beyond normal vaporizing temperatures. Take extra precautions and be safe!
Do you remove the CCD first (o-rings removed, duh)?
Do you think a propane torch would work as well or better?
I imagine you'd have to hit it from all sides evenly to avoid a color gradient (which could also be cool) - is that your experience?
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How much to use though? It's years (decades) since I last smoked hash! I guess there's no way of knowing until I experiment. Should I expect more /less/bigger/smaller clouds? Will the residue just empty out like ABV? 
