Aromazap/Myrtlezap/CeramicRockZap

[lwien]

Hey Reece. Sounds like things are going well for ya. We miss ya around here but considering what you're involved with, it is totally understandable.

Sounds like you're having fun and as long as you're doing that, your job will never be.............work, or....your work will never be just a job.

Best of luck to ya.

 

[the ob]

do what you love and you will never work another day in your life.

isnt that how that saying goes?

 

[stickstones]

rick...I must be a dingbat, cause I'm not vaped yet. my little brain can't grasp this.

Are you making rock zaps that don't have a wood exterior? (If so, would this be more brittle than a wood exterior?)

Are you making rock zaps with a wood exterior? (If so, does this prolong the life of the vape or make it hotter running? Or cooler to the touch?)

I'm sorry, becasue I think you have already covered this and everyone else seems to be getting it!

 

[SirElton]

What a great time to become a member of Zapville! Sure, it'll be a while yet, but we all know it will be worth the wait. I'm already envisioning what a Koa RockZap will be like

 

[biojuggernaut]

The ob can you post of picture of your walnut "superzap". I too went with a walnut SSS; it should have arrived yesterday but I guess it will be here tomrw.

 

[the ob]

The ob can you post of picture of your walnut "superzap". I too went with a walnut SSS; it should have arrived yesterday but I guess it will be here tomrw.

I am certainly going to try today. I have a family funeral to attend later and a bunch of needy family members here. I promise if I can I will.

 

[biojuggernaut]

nooo worries; don't fret it if you don't have the time . . . sorry to hear about your loss.

 

[Rick]

Bio
Yours was one of two orders on the 5th that did not ship yet. Monday it should leave if I can get out to the shop before long.
stickstones
My personal initial trial was with the SSS heatport only in the concrete cup. That lasted a few days. I wanted to determine how the cup/insulator did all by itself. The rockzaps will all be in wood of some kind. The cured concrete cup allows us to use different wood densities that normally cannot be used in a log vape. As I said earlier, we have yet to test denser woods. It does work very well in the softer woods.
lwein, the same principle on the material would also apply to the stem tips. SS holds heat better. The thing is, all the work is done by the time one draws heated air through the SSS heatport and into the stem tip contents. I believe any difference between SS stem tips and RoHS brass stem tips would be negligible and not noticed by the user. SS is prettier for sure. For now, we use brass stem tips. Just another area of Zapville imperfection well known to all.
Good to see you around Reese. The SSS RockZap will totally eliminate what you have experienced with at least one soft beautiful Zap that I know of. Reese knows the disadvantage of soft wood when used with the traditional log vape design.

 

[Alan]

Alan, thank you so much for your tips on loading the tips. I am always amazed at your contributions of ideas and the application of those ideas. It is a pleasure to have you in the FC log vape world. You also provide us all with a great demonstration of civility on this forum. Thanks for popping into AZ/MZ now and then. I will get over to your nook and do the same.

You are welcome Rick and you are always welcome in Toasty Town. I look forward to your posts. This is all about making people happy. I always enjoy sharing things I've discovered if it will help someone. I'm sure you get the same satisfacation knowing you are providing a high quality product.

Lots of great stuff happening in Zapville. The concrete cup looks marvelous. It should make the internal temperature very consistent for each unit. It looks like you are bringing both heater wires together in the center. If so, then you should be able to weld a ss fender washer to the bottom of your heat exchanger so that it will be an all stainless air path like on the Toasty Top.
Have you changed the design of the wire routing with the new stainless steel heat exchanger?
I know what you mean about showing off your new creations. I'm the same way. It is a lot of fun improving on an already solid and proven design. Everyone is a winner when you come up with something new.

I'm with the ob on the grind size for loading the tube. Airflow is so critical in getting good vapor.

I have had great luck with my plug ends as they have an additional layer of insulation around both insulated wires.

I'm not yet convinced about charring being the cause of the heat sink becoming loose. At least not with the TT anyhow. I've had mine plugged in pretty much 24/7 since last November and it is still as tight as the day I made it. I don't see any issues with Rick's new ss heat exchanger charring the wood and becoming loose. It should be solid for a very long time.

Nice job on the personal instruction for using a Zap Vitolo. That is the best way to help someone discover the best method for medication. I always thought that log vapes would work well for a taste testing event. Dispensaries could invite select patients to an state compliant location where they could sample the latest strains. The log vape really gives you a sense of how good it can taste without using a lot of material. They could even get a free roasting tube for attending the event.
You know me, always thinking.

 

[momofthegoons]

This is going to come as a great disappointment to many of you; Rick included, I'm sure. I just went to my computer case to get my camera to take some pics as I used the next hour to do a real review and comparison. It's not in the case. I left it up north. Damn.

I will, however, go to my vape station right now and proceed with the testing. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it. I will post my findings afterwards in as much detail as I can. The pictures will have to wait until I get back up there; probably Tuesday.

edit to add: if I can get a decent shot off my computer, I will post it. Otherwise, it's Tuesday.

 

[biojuggernaut]

Bio
Yours was one of two orders on the 5th that did not ship yet. Monday it should leave if I can get out to the shop before long.
stickstones

Oh I still might to see some eye candy then. I almost enjoy coming over here everyday building suspense waiting for this piece of art; rather then waiting for my vape. The zap will hold a special place in my arsenal while my toasty top will be my DD when I have people over in my apartment. The top can EAT a floor hit due to its small mass. Plus not to mention if I ever wanted to I could simply buy a new wood body from Alan. I'd drop the sucker that dropped my zap

 

[Rick]

Bio
No more worries about dropping Zaps. They will take just about anything now and continue to be rattle free.
My oldest son got caught up in the cord of moms test rockzap. It fell 6 feet to a concrete floor. Just a ding that we sanded out. Did not hurt it a bit.
One thing I can be absolutely sure of is the durability of these new one piece Solid Stainless Steel heatports. They will be around, like new, forever.
edit re post below.
As we came up with the insulated liner idea, it occurred to us that if the idea worked, we could make a Zap out of a rock. Drilling the rock could be a problem though...............as could be some of the very hard woods out there.

 

[djonkoman]

that rockzap sounds really nice...
would also be cool if it would be possible to make a rockzap with stone/rock as exterior instead of wood I think

 

[biojuggernaut]

Bio
No more worries about dropping Zaps. They will take just about anything now and continue to be rattle free.
My oldest son got caught up in the cord of moms test rockzap. It fell 6 feet to a concrete floor. Just a ding that we sanded out. Did not hurt it a bit.
One thing I can be absolutely sure of is the durability of these new one piece Solid Stainless Steel heatports. They will be around, like new, forever.

I'm not worried about the durability of the zap Rick. I'm just worried about that beautiful finish. Dark wood always emphasizes flea bites imo.

 

[Alan]

Maybe an actual stone with a 1" hole drilled into it. No two alike.

 

[Rick]

Top hole in the rockzap will be 1 1/2" to make room for the liner. That is some of the final touch up to be done, how do we trim out the top of the concrete insulator? maybe a 1 1/2" with 1" center flat SS washer?
mom will maybe have a top view pic.
Of course I sent it out with no pics taken here. Dinglefritz

 

[Alan]

If you are making the concrete yourself, you can add some pretty stones for aggregate. Then you can stain and polish the concrete. This works really well for floors anyhow.

 

[Rick]

Alan, you surely have some neat ideas. We will be making the liners here at Zapville so I can add some sparkle to the top easily.
The mold was the important step when considering any kind of insulating liner.
Thanks for the bottom SS washer tip. We will throw that thought in the mix. The mix is real big for us right now, almost too big.................

 

[kewpcer]

The washer sounds like a practical idea. Just cover up the concrete in stainless. Then the whole unit becomes similar to an Aladin Thermos, but with concrete instead of vacuum.

The fab shop you're sourcing from sounds like it may be pretty robust. Do they have any etching equipment? You could have them etch the Aromazap logo into each washer. Serial numbers too. That would be a nice discrete place for a logo that will get seen by the crossing eyes of everyone that uses it, hehe.

 

[momofthegoons]

okay. After much testing and comparison, I am ready. But first, I am truly sorry for not having my camera. I wouldn't have said anything about anything if I had known I didn't have it here. Talk about dinglefritz! As soon as I can post pics and I will make sure to include a pic of the top.

So, on with the show:

First, I'll speak to appearance. My Zap is about 4 1/4" high and 2 1/8" across. The RockZap is 4 1/2" high, and 2 1/2" across. The weight of the two is about the same, in spite of the size difference, concrete and the beefier SSS heatport. I think this is due to the difference in density of the two myrtles. While the Zap has the usual density, the RockZap is made of a burl that was very soft. Rick described it to me as almost being almost as light as balsa wood. She's a beauty though, curly blond burl. And I don't mean to imply that the wood is too soft. It's not like it would dent easily. It just doesn't weight much. The wood surrounding the brass heat port of the Zap is about 3/4" thick, whereas the wood surrounding the cement encased SSS heatport is only 1/2" thick. The heatports themselves are different in appearance too. The SSS is much heftier, including the area surrounding the stem tip. The stem tip of the vapor tube also goes into the SSS a little further at 1/2", compared to 1/4" in the Zap.

From the first hit, you can tell a difference with the SSS. But what surprised me the most was that each subsequent hit was also impressive, until the stem was cashed. The hits were much more full bodied than with the brass Zap. For those of you who bought the 13.5 back in the day, sort of like that only much smoother (unless you get too much. Then, look out). As far as the number of hits per stem, well....I sort of lost count. I do know that there were more than the old Zap. And the true test was when I took the "cashed" stem from my Zap and tried it in the RockZap and got two more good sized hits. Hits that were bigger than any I had gotten from the old Zap.

Another thing I noticed was that ambient temperature doesn't seem to affect the RockZap as much as the old style Zap. My vape station is right underneath an air conditioning vent. My Zap needed to "get up to power" a bit after being under it. The RockZap needed no such adjustment time. Solid hits right away.

All of the old stems and Tooties from Rick work in the SSS, as well as the stems from Ed. All worked well for me, and believe me, I tried them all.

Now for the comments directed towards me above:

reece - Good to see you here! Just so you know, you wont sacrifice the outer warmth with the new design. It still warms the hands and the soul.

chucku - I hope I answered some of your questions. As far as which is my favorite? Between the Zaps, I've got to say that I love this new SSS. I'm not sure what you meant by the vt. But, if you meant the TT, between the Zap and the TT, I have to say there is a tie. I love them both. I love the feel of both of them in my hands, I love the woods used, and I must say, I am a big fan/supporter of both Rick and Alan. Sorry....can't just pick one....

edited to add:
lwien, about the SS stem tips; I have the TT. Alan uses SS in his stem/tube tips. I don't notice any difference in usage between the two vapes, now that the Zap is made with SSS, using the brass stem tips in the Zap and the SS in the Top.

 

[mudstar]

I think its about time my little brass buddy got a stainless steel sidekick. Too much excitement around here it's tough to keep up. Glad ya'll are happy with your new zaps, and to those that are waiting, it'll be worth it...

Awesome work you're doing with the MMJ community in AZ, Vito and Rick, as always, much appreciation for your constant dedication and continued innovation. Saving my pennies as we speak for my future stainless sidekick.

Cheers,
mud

 

[stickstones]

thanks rick...I get it! Great innovation!

 

[chucku]

Mom,

Are the stems for zaps and TT interchangeable?

 

[momofthegoons]

Ahh.... no they are not. The Zap stems will work marginally in the Top. They do not really go down into the heatport far enough. But the stems for the Top will not work with the Zap at all.

 

[Rick]

Our stems have a shorter tube extrusion from the handle portion. If I had more tubing sticking out, they should work is my guess on the TT from what mom said. Alans stems do not even fit in the new SSS heatport? Those top holes are a few thousandths larger in inner diameter than our old design.
Quick note on production.
No Zaps out til Tuesday for an expected Thursday arrival. My day in the shop got sidetracked by some equally important issues, still in the shop but not Zapville. We are still keeping up kinda to a day or two PLUS a week from order to ship date.