UK Glass - Rickysvaps.co.uk?

[Perfect_Speed4069]

Has anyone come across rickysvaps.co.uk or used any of this interesting looking gear?

https://imgur.com/a/vUVGZKE

Cheap too, but it's a couple of weeks til payday for me.

 

[simba]

Never seen it before!

 

[Radwin Bodnic]

Nice find !

The ZR vape (pictured in the OP) looks like a replica of the Submarine from GVB.
And the ZR2 looks like a glass replica of the EMK. I don't think it's quartz though. And the layout is a little different : lesser but bigger balls and taller device. Airflow is probably a little better.

He also sells a 3 pieces bubbler (goo roo mini replica he says).

 

[Perfect_Speed4069]

Nice find

And a super helpful reply. Really excellent cross referencing with similar devices.

Excuse my ignorance but is there a straightforward set of visual/tactile cues that help discern glass from quartz?

[Edit added after I realised they'd arrived in the post this morning. Initial thoughts. The ZR is similar to a Piro, except the intake is 10mm, and each time it whistles (which is every time I hit it) I feel like I'm summoning the canines of the locality. Blown away by the quality of the flavour though.

Second half of the bowl was with the Z2 - which I struggled to heat until I got bored, pointed the Ronxs dual at 90 degrees to the top of the ZR2 and fired down. Oof. Tasted a bit shit, but hells teeth it's powerful.

Need to give these both a proper run in and work out my technique before offering any further opinions. If I can get past the ZR reminding me of my tinnitus days]

 

[RogueGuy]

@Perfect_Speed4069 the one thing that is an obvious difference between quartz and boro is the female joint shape. If you look at the top pic you will notice that the edge of the 2 female joints have a pronounced and distinct hard edge. If you look at the joint in the EMK link you will notice that its really just a rolled edge. for me thats always the clue

 

[Radwin Bodnic]

And a super helpful reply. Really excellent cross referencing with similar devices.

You're too kind.

I'd add to Dave's answer that you won't find a lot of grounded quartz joints at the price point of this device.

Quartz has also a different refractive index than boro. It's easier to notice in person than on a picture though.

 

[Perfect_Speed4069]

You guessed it. Strong heat + glass (not quartz) = cracked ZR2 (and I reckoned to have taken my time as well). Still functioning, but now more of a potential hazard than the joy I hoped it would be. And this might just be my bad luck/cack-handedness.

Anyway, I'm pleased these kind of things are available in the UK, and look forward to seeing how RV develop as a manufacturer/supplier.

 

[Radwin Bodnic]

You guessed it. Strong heat + glass (not quartz) = cracked ZR2 (and I reckoned to have taken my time as well). Still functioning, but now more of a potential hazard than the joy I hoped it would be. And this might just be my bad luck/cack-handedness.

Anyway, I'm pleased these kind of things are available in the UK, and look forward to seeing how RV develop as a manufacturer/supplier.

Yeah you have to be very progressive with glass. And you have to heat it really evenly across the whole device. Especially when the glass is a little thick (higher delta temperature = more internal stress).
You can actually be more agressive with thin glass.

And sorry for your loss...
I've made a quartz SCVW that works wonderfully for under 5€. I'll post it later if you're interested.

 

[Cheebsy]

You guessed it. Strong heat + glass (not quartz) = cracked ZR2 (and I reckoned to have taken my time as well). Still functioning, but now more of a potential hazard than the joy I hoped it would be. And this might just be my bad luck/cack-handedness.

Anyway, I'm pleased these kind of things are available in the UK, and look forward to seeing how RV develop as a manufacturer/supplier.

That sucks man! But also sounds a bit odd. Boro should be fine unless it was particularly cold too start off with, or wasn't properly annealed. What torch were you using and could you post a picture of the crack please?

 

[Perfect_Speed4069]

I've made a quartz SCVW that works wonderfully for under 5€. I'll post it later if you're interested.

Reckoned once it had achieved an even glow I could ramp it up a bit it. Happy to accept it's user error within a set of parameters narrowed by the materials and manufacture.

I'd love to see your iteration of a Vapor Wand. Funnily enough before posting here, I emailed RV saying I was likely to reuse the balls in something similar. That said, I've struggled to find quartz stems in the past, so any help sourcing one will be gratefully accepted ;o(

 

[Perfect_Speed4069]

What torch were you using and could you post a picture of the crack please?

Heated indoors (17.5° isn't that cold, right?) using a Ronxs double

https://imgur.com/a/pGFjrZ7

 

[chlorophyll_man]

The original Elev8r heaters were made of boro but 7th Floor replaced them with quartz because they were cracking. Well both of mine did and I read about it happening to other people's too. Personally if I was using a big torch, and using it often, on a piece of glass then I would only want that glass to be quartz.

 

[simba]

The original Elev8r heaters were made of boro but 7th Floor replaced them with quartz because they were cracking. Well both of mine did and I read about it happening to other people's too. Personally if I was using a big torch, and using it often, on a piece of glass then I would only want that glass to be quartz.

I've never had an issue with the Tasty Tube

 

[Cheebsy]

Unless it's something to do with the sharpness of the ronxs flame (unlikely imo), that should not have happened, especially not in the first heat up. Did you share your story with rickyvapes? Does he produce these in house? As you say, it looks like the crack started at the intake hole, I would think he should replace it personally, but it's not obvious to me what the cause was.

 

[Perfect_Speed4069]

Unless it's something to do with the sharpness of the ronxs flame (unlikely imo), that should not have happened, especially not in the first heat up. Did you share your story with rickyvapes? Does he produce these in house? As you say, it looks like the crack started at the intake hole, I would think he should replace it personally, but it's not obvious to me what the cause was.

I've let RV know but I'm not begging things from small providers, especially when the source of the problem is unclear/possibly me. If they make them or oversee the manufacture, I've suggested they use quartz moving forward, but at the end of the day, I bought some homages to OG vapes that I can't easily source in the UK, and heat plus glass occasionally produces cracks. As far as they know, I could be a complete herbert who applied a maxxed out Big Blazer flame from a standing start, or a clumsy person trying to get a free replacement. If they offer a replacement I wont say no, but occasionally I see entitled people trying to squeeze small providers ("where's the Black Friday or 4/20 discount?") and I don't want to be one of them.

 

[Cheebsy]

That's commendable @Perfect_Speed4069 I completely understand. If I had produced them I'd want to know of issues though, just to refine the process if nothing else. I'm glad you've let them know for those reasons.

 

[Perfect_Speed4069]

That's commendable @Perfect_Speed4069 I completely understand. If I had produced them I'd want to know of issues though, just to refine the process if nothing else. I'm glad you've let them know for those reasons.

I'd be surprised if someone connected with RV didn't keep an eye on things round here.
FWIW I also mentioned my concerns about the durability/replaceability of the 10mm intake on the ZR that sounds like a bosun's whistle each time you hit it. I've never seen brick style intake with a 10mm male joint before. Have you? RV don't appear to sell replacement parts, and this is nowhere near core stock of even specialist glass suppliers.

[edit: I just remembered this knock off I used to own/gave away, which had a 10mm male joint. Bit long for an intake though]

 

[simba]

Does he produce these in house?

I would be very interested to know the answer to this.

 

[Radwin Bodnic]

I'd love to see your iteration of a Vapor Wand. Funnily enough before posting here, I emailed RV saying I was likely to reuse the balls in something similar. That said, I've struggled to find quartz stems in the past, so any help sourcing one will be gratefully accepted ;o(

I figured it was better to post it in the dedicated thread, but here it is :

I finally made a Sand Castle.
This is a 14mm quartz straw for nectar collector, filled with (30x ?) 2,5mm (maybe 3mm) quartz balls. I used Herborizer Ti Screens.

1 : Shaping the bottom screen. I shaped it on a right sized nail head, using little pliers to make the folds on the sides pf the basket neat and rigid.
The nail head is approximately the diameter of the bottom opening of the 14mm joint.
2 : Filling the balls from the straw side. You have to maintain the screen at the beginning but then, pressing the balls down (with a thin wooden stick) will make the sides of the screen expand and lock into place.
3 : Shaping the top screen. I shaped it like a vaponic screen. (Again, little tweezers for nice folds.) And push down the screen to compress the balls down and maintain the pressure that helps locking the bottom screen in.

The bowl is a Ehle 18-14 reducer with a Herborizer screen wedged inside. The adapter is extra long and that allows to adjust the screen position.
Here it is pictured with a small load set at the minimal distance imo. (Even a little too close since I had some tunneling on this roast.)

And this is how it looks on the Sherlock :

First thoughts :
- I'm really confident on the safety of this assembly. The only way to dismantle it is to remove the top screen from above with a thin wooden stick.
- Heating is really fast : less than 15 sec with the blazer big buddy. (~10 sec cool down required to heat soak the balls without combusting the load.) I only heat the wide part. Not the radiator part, although it should help to go low temp.
- You can heat it with a PB-207 sized torch although its longer… (around 40 sec) I even managed to combust the first time. So a quick cool down before hitting is required as well.
- It really is a one hitter. The load is small and you get all of it in one draw. The sides are a little less roasted than the middle. The further the load from the heater the less tunneling you'll have (but need higher temperature).
- The tip of the straw is never hot enough to burn yourself so handling is really straightforward. No need for tweezers.

I havent timed anything so my timings are guesstimations…

 

[Perfect_Speed4069]

I would think he should replace it personally

... And he's offered to do so. Apparently cracking is not that common in his experience.

I remain convinced these are helpful additions to the range of glass vapes available in the UK, even if they're shanzhai tributes. And optimistic that better will follow