Today... to my absolute shock (and horror... I wanted to catch the mailman before my wife... @#$%)... my Saxo bubbler arrived today. Holy vapor volume, Batman. This thing is a LOT bigger than it looks. I had concern about it, but when I saw Wat's video... it didn't look this big? They say the camera adds 10-15 lbs. My ass, it does!
Big, it is. Yes, I "fogged" it up with my MFLB. Well, kinda like skim milk. But there was a cloud of vapor and @#$%, it hit like a truck. Whatever you want to say about Black Leaf (and I honestly think they're lying about 5mm glass.... psh), the 10-arm on this, fires perfect. Absolutely perfect. 1st set of cuts start to fire on the pull, go to clear and its like blast off. I liked the way they reinforced the arms to. Instead of little glass welds, they inserted a closed (both) end tube. The percs rest up against/around it and it holds them SOLID.
If you look at it, from the top... the Dewarr is offset center, ever so slightly. Which when I noticed, I shit my pants, because I knew the downstem was going to lean, or be off-center by a huge amount. Looked at it again and no. The arm is close to straight as you can be, without being absolutely straight. It bends ever so slightly, so at the bottom, it actually ends up centered. You won't notice looking straight on... have to look from the top. So no complaint there.
No marks on the glass, every time I thought I found a blemish, it was a sticker smudge. Haven't found any bubbles in the glass yet. The glass is clean and solid enough, even with my doubts about it being 5mm. The base, I think adds to the perception of it being BIG. The base itself is massive. I won't be adding any attachments (besides a whip adapter), but you could certainly stack the piece, twice its height, without any problem.
Happy I got it, while I wait for my SSFG, it will make the time a little more bearable (though, I had to bend the truth, to my wife... little white lie). Didn't hear from Allison today, so Ray probably wasn't able to get to my downstem until today. No worry, no hurry. UPS across the country, I'll have it in 3-4 days, once it does ship, which should be tomorrow. Until then, I get to enjoy my new piece.
EDIT: Oops... I did hear from Allison today. Reading her email now. Yep... Ray's finishing it up today.
EDIT II: Getting some vapor in now, with more time. One thing I noticed, which I really like... is this piece is one of the most forgiving pieces, I've used with different water levels. On almost ALL my pieces, I typically run no more than 1/4" above the perc... and that's pushing it. I did the same with the Saxo and no drag. So much NO drag (oxymoron, I know)... I actually wanted some. I'm at about 1/2", maybe 3/4" above now... and the drag is perfect and its a LOT easier to watch my vapor and gauge hits now. Really liking this piece. Will be awesome with my HI when I get it.
Pictures and maybe a video... might not be until tomorrow though.