So i've had few weeks with a couple of prototypes of
@blokenoname's logs.
I first starting chatting with Bloke in July round these parts when I came across this thread. I was looking to build an induction heater for my Vapcaps, and was aware of being able to use logs such as the Woodscents with a Vapcap. Knowing that there weren't many log makers over here in Europe I was extremely interested to follow what he was doing.
Unfortunately I am not the most practical of people, and as simple as Bloke makes this whole log making business seem, it is just outside of my abilities to make one myself. Regardless of this though, Bloke kindly entertained my many, many questions and shared lots of his knowledge with me. Bloke is clearly passionate about logs, and he really has done his homework, if there were a museum dedicated to logs this would be the man to curate it!
So with all that said, Bloke has kindly invited me to beta test one of his prototype logs. Please bear in mind that Bloke already has some major changes in the pipeline in the form of the variety woods he is using- the prototype I have is mahogany- sapele, but future units will have a wide range of choice of hard woods and bottom caps, such as walnut, beech, cherry, ash, all the usual suspects.
Anyway, on to my test unit. Bloke has taken all of his research to make a simple yet extremely effective unit. The model I have is a sapele wood, with an open heating core. This log shares lineage with Alan's Heat Island logs, with a traditional resistor, in a 9mm stainless steel tube, with slits at the bottom to allow air through which passes over the heating element through your bowl. Bloke has also included a bushing over the heater port which allows you to use 10mm tips, and a circle clip and high temp silicone o-ring so you can use 'slide-over tips' such as the glass Arizer stems which have a roughly 11.5mm inner diameter.
If you are interested in how it is put together or what materials are used you can just go through this veritable treasure trove of an informative thread, I won't bore you with a recap of what is already written here.
I have been running this unit on a variable voltage power supply (VVPS) at 12.25V-12.5V. You could vape with it within about 10 minutes of turning it on, maybe quicker if you gave it a bit more power to start with. I tend to give it about 20 minutes at 12v so that the wood is thoroughly heat soaked. However, this has extra “gas in the tank” as it were, which is very useful for when using the larger tips or glass stems, as they are a touch further away from the heater itself, and so need a bit more heat to get you where you want to, go if you have a VVPS, for these I would use 12.5V.
The 10mm tips work exactly as the 8mm do, a light pack (using the straw method to hoover up your material) works best with these types of vapes. The Arizer stem packed with a very minimal touch of material works superbly and the flavour is amazing. Bloke has added a clip ring and high temp silicone o-ring around the bushing to allow the glass stem to make a good seal. I have been getting great flavour from the all glass stems, but you definitely need a bit of extra power in order to get a full extraction.
I have been using the unit exclusively through water as that is just how I like to vape these days. I have been using an 8mm tip with a 14/18mm PonG as Bloke likes to call it, as well as a Ddave custom waterwand, into my matrix sidecar china glass copy.
12.25V might be a bit hot for some peoples tastes, but as I am using it through water it is just right. These higher power settings have been working great with a dab of concentrates on top of the herb. With the 8mm tip, the first hit is an instant white walled bong, with a massive rip. The second is still a pretty large hit, and then a third more wispy hit. After that I take the adapter out of the bong and use it directly dry, and will get a few smaller hits directly from the log by letting the tip heat soak a little and taking slow draws to get the last goodness out of the bowl. The avb is very, very, very efficiently extracted, all but black on the very top, with even the herb furthest from the bowl still being very dark. As this is a pure convection vape, you are bound to have the material closest to the heater darker than the rest. You could stir if you wish, but I don't. This will also depend on your grind and how you pack the bowl.
The stem/bowl compatibility of this unit is one of its major strengths. You can either use the 8mm tips slid into the heating core (a relatively standard size of tip for a log), or a large 10mm OD tips (such as a Vapcap or SS tubing) into the bushing around the top of the core, or an Arizer or similar glass stem slid over the top bushing, if that is what you are into. So with that in mind, this is definitely one of the most versatile logs you are likely to find,with tips and stems that suit any preference.
The Misty logs will give you everything that you expect from a log vape. Extremely efficient, simpler than practically any other vape (hell, it doesn't even have any buttons!) and versatile to the extreme with the choice of tips and stems you can use with it. With this particular heating element the log would need to be used a VVPS if you wanted a bit of extra heat, but it can be used natively with a 12v power supply, and a dimmer gives you the option to turn down a little if it feels too hot. Bloke has said that there will be a choice of heating element- either a traditional resistor as found in the Heat Island logs, or a more powerful cartridge as recommended by Rasta, which may be best paired with a high mass core so I’m sure if that is your flavour, he would be happy to oblige!
At some point i will get a milk shot video in, when i get round to it!
So silicone for sealing it is for now.
so much so that i am going to have to do extensive testing tonight. Can never be too sure 
