I'm so glad to be back at home after an exhausting trip! It was frustrating leaving all those pods behind waiting to be assembled. Since getting back I've ordered some more glass for the stems, glass cutting and filing tools, and some new power adapter cables. So it's back to the waiting game until it all arrives...
In the meantime I've sent a PM to everyone who has contacted me about beta testing. If anyone didn't get the PM then please contact me. Amongst other things, the PM describes the stem options that will be available with the pod. Here's what will be on offer:
Direct Draw
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These are 80mm long straight glass stems.
DDS - (small) 7.6mm internal diameter for small loads. They are slightly larger than the original PD/Zap stems.
DDM - (medium) 9mm internal diameter for medium sized loads.
DDL - (large) 10mm internal diameter for large loads.
Ground Glass
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GG - A short stem with a 14mm male ground glass joint for use with water filtration. Internal diameter 9mm.
Half Stems
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These are for DIY/experimental use with vaporlungs or silicone tubing etc. They are like the direct draw stems but only 40mm long.
HS - (small) 7.6mm internal diameter.
HL - (large) 10mm internal diameter.
I hope this should have all the bases covered. It's certainly a lot more involved than what I had originally planned for this project!
After playing around with the screens I've decided that I can keep costs and complexity down by not grinding the insides of the stems to hold the screens in place. Instead I've found that by making the mesh bowl kind of square, I can turn it upside down so the herb sits on the flat surface. I had started doing this with my old PD stems after removing the circlip. Someone in the PD thread posted the idea (can't remember who unfortunately). I had forgotten about it then remembered the idea again recently after becoming frustrated trying to position the bowl shaped screens in the glass stems. They slid around and turned sideways etc and were driving me nuts!!! By squaring the mesh it creates a lot more friction and stability against the glass, so it stays in place but is easy to move into position with moderate pressure. I found that encourages maintenance because it is such a no-brainer to get it back into place.
I haven't done a great job on this one but I hope you get the idea. I plan to get appropriate size dowels so that I can shape the mesh properly before inserting it into the stems.