Ed's TnT Wooden Vapor Tubes & Vapor Stems

[Ed's TnT]

Hello and good morning, I am so happy with my progress this last week, I have gotten so much done! I turned a bunch of granadillo solo stems that will be going out to vendors soon and even started making a solo stem from a new species. It will be an exclusive species for one of my vendors, its South American Bloodwood. I already make dugouts and LB stems from it but these are the first solo stems. I am really happy with the way they turned out, the wood is really dense like I like for solo stems, its finish is very fine and glossy, super sleek and pop! I really dig em and would like to hear you all thoughts.

I still have to turn a few more and install the bushings. My guy is really excited with the look of these and says he will be doing hella promotion on these so I am sure you all will be seeing them soon.

I hope all is well and wish everyone a great weekend!

 

[stickstones]

That thing is absolutely gorgeous! What's the price?

 

[Ed's TnT]

That thing is absolutely gorgeous! What's the price?

Hmm I am not sure what they are gonna charge, these are going to PIU, you will have to get with Randy and see. They will be shipping to him on the 17th so he will probably have them for sale not long after. I know he is excited to get them!

 

[Reflections]

Ive always wanted to try one of your stems ed but never had a solo..but i do have an ascent id like to try it on..also a ENano..do you make them for the enano?

 

[Ed's TnT]

@Reflections no Solo, say what??? No sweat, I should have the Ascent stems available soon, pls hang in there with me on them. As far as the ENano goes I am not making any for it at the moment. I have spoken to Andy about it a while back but havent heard anything back from him on it. He mentioned he was changing the heater core sleeve and the dimensions would be different, he told me he would let me know something but that was a while back, so not sure where that is going. I am sure he is slammed with what all he has going on. Pls check back soon for the Ascent stems!

 

[CarolKing]

I ordered the Granadillo stem from PIU. I will be excited to try it out with my Solo when i get it. I will be ordering the mouthpiece for the Ascent too, when they are available.

Congradulations on your success with these beautiful stems Ed.

 

[Ed's TnT]

@Pinnacle Pro right on glad you got one from Randy, I hope you enjoy it and am anxious to hear your thoughts of my work! I am excited to get some of these Ascent stems out there to see how you all feel about them.

Thanks for the post and the kind words, they very appreciated!

 

[Reflections]

They do look Beautiful Ed!!

 

[padorni]

Beautiful work Ed!
Since the new 2014 solos have bigger airflow holes, providing a better draw with stock stems, would you consider making your Solo stems without the knotches on the bowl?

Im really looking forward to your next batch of Solos stems but am afraid that since I own the new solo, your stem with the knotches will be a little too airy....

Have any thoughts about that?

Anyways, with or without the knotches, I´ll be buying one! lol

Thanks Ed

 

[Snappo]

Beautiful work Ed!
Since the new 2014 solos have bigger airflow holes, providing a better draw with stock stems, would you consider making your Solo stems without the knotches on the bowl?

Im really looking forward to your next batch of Solos stems but am afraid that since I own the new solo, your stem with the knotches will be a little too airy....

Have any thoughts about that?

Anyways, with or without the knotches, I´ll be buying one! lol

Thanks Ed

Good point! Perhaps smaller notches would compensate for the change.

 

[as]

My eds stem is more restricted then my stock stem is that just me

 

[Ed's TnT]

Beautiful work Ed!
Since the new 2014 solos have bigger airflow holes, providing a better draw with stock stems, would you consider making your Solo stems without the knotches on the bowl?

Im really looking forward to your next batch of Solos stems but am afraid that since I own the new solo, your stem with the knotches will be a little too airy....

Have any thoughts about that?

Anyways, with or without the knotches, I´ll be buying one! lol

Thanks Ed

Hmm, I did not know of this change to the Solo, thank you for the post and letting me know! I would think that the way you pack the stem would make the most difference when using the wooden stem, even with the larger airflow holes in the Solo and the notches in the metal bushing. The tighter the pack is the less airflow you would get, the looser the pack the less restrictive it would be. I am thinking that if it didnt have the notches when the stem is inserted all the way in the Solo that it would cut off the flow of air through the air holes in the Solo and would not perform as well. Hmm I believe this needs further investigation! Either I need to get a new Solo or I need to have some one do some testing for me.

I do believe the way you load the stem will affect the draw the most. Am I wrong? Pls give me your thoughts.

 

[padorni]

Hmm, I did not know of this change to the Solo, thank you for the post and letting me know! I would think that the way you pack the stem would make the most difference when using the wooden stem, even with the larger airflow holes in the Solo and the notches in the metal bushing. The tighter the pack is the less airflow you would get, the looser the pack the less restrictive it would be. I am thinking that if it didnt have the notches when the stem is inserted all the way in the Solo that it would cut off the flow of air through the air holes in the Solo and would not perform as well. Hmm I believe this needs further investigation! Either I need to get a new Solo or I need to have some one do some testing for me.

I do believe the way you load the stem will affect the draw the most. Am I wrong? Pls give me your thoughts.

Thanks for the reply Ed!
You made a good point, we can control the airflow by the way we pack the bowl!

Im very new to Solos, not much experience here... Lets see what the more experienced solo user have to say about this!

 

[Vitolo]

I am still buying new Solos for communtiy members.
I got one yesterday from PuffitUp.
The holes looked identical as on my year old Solo, and my older model.

EDIT:I admit to not remaining in the Solo thread. It got too busy and full of impertinent comments, so I left and have not heard about the larger holes.
I just inspected the Solos bought in past weeks for a couple community members, and still see no variance in the size of the holes.
I will focus on this aspect in the future.

 

[Snappo]

Hi Ed - Thinking about your suggestion to vary the pack tightness/looseness: for the larger-holed SOLO's (and I've seen them), smaller notches would allow us to continue to pack according to our fill and pack preferences. For example, sometimes I use just a very small pinch held in with a screen, sometimes a half or full bowl - sometimes a tight pack, or loose - it all varies. The notches in your stems to date work perfectly IMO, and don't limit my choices. So, if the current notches prove too big and airy for the newer SOLO's with bigger air holes, smaller notches might work better without limiting our packing pref.

 

[Vitolo]

You can also simply turn Ed's stem a couple degrees in either direction, and the notches will no longer be lined up with the holes.
It works great.
There is no cause to make a whole new stem without notches.

 

[Ed's TnT]

You can also simply turn Ed's stem a couple degrees in either direction, and the notches will no longer be lined up with the holes.
It works great.
There is no cause to make a whole new stem without notches.

Good thinking Vito, you are exactly right! Thanks for the post!

I am really having a good time experimenting with the Ascent. Its hits are smooth and solid, I am still not blowing hella clouds but am really feeling the vapor. The taste is good, I dont have anything with a potent flavor. What I have is some good, nothing to brag about but vapor is always tasty. The airflow through the stems is strong and direct. I feel the way I pack the load has alot to do with the way it hits. I am packing it rather loose and filling the entire chamber. I still have the blackwood on the way and some of it should be here tomorrow. I have been trying other black species to find an alternative and cheaper wood. I just turned a stem set from Indian Ebony, its very black, blacker than African Blackwood without the high gloss finish and not quite as dense. I gave it a couple sessions and it performed well. I am gonna use this stem set for a while and see how it well it does under alot of use. I wanna see how gooey it becomes and how it is to clean it. Am really enjoying the Ascent, I didnt really know much about it or how well it worked. I havent spent really anytime in its thread here at FC and am learning all on my own but am finding it has its place. Its a nice portable and is very discreet.

 

[friedricey]

Hi Ed, are you still making those wooden bats?

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[CarolKing]

Ed, after you perfect the mouthpiece for the Ascent, do you have any plans on making a gong for it also?

 

[Ed's TnT]

Good morning!

@friedricey thing is I had a guy that made those for me, I sent him the wood and he made the bats. He did good work and I didnt have time at the time to do everything, I got em for a good deal. He quit doing them for me a while back, not sure what happened but the guy flaked out on me. I since have gotten a metal lathe and have begun doing them myself. They are a little different, they perform really well, and I think they are much nicer.

Have a look

Maple, Curly Koa, and African Blackwood

The BlkW is super nice, looks and feels like a gentlemens piece, its very dignified! My friend has got that one, I am tote'n the Koa. I had hoped to have these available by now but as it is I have been busy doing everything else but these. Hang in there with me, I intend on selling these soon.

@Pinnacle Pro I did give em a look and feel that is something I could make happen! Itd be fun to make. I will give it a try this week. I should have half my order of BlkW today. I gotta turn a few more Solo stems for my guy in France and then I plan on working on the Ascent stems hard and heavy. I should have those available soon. I will squeeze in some time and make an Ascent wong!

 

[stickstones]

Ed, after you perfect the mouthpiece for the Ascent, do you have any plans on making a gong for it also?

That's a great idea! Not only would it be a double function like the Solo stems, but it would be a more durable option than the glass gong DaVinci sells. I hope it is possible...but how would it recess?

 

[Ed's TnT]

That's a great idea! Not only would it be a double function like the Solo stems, but it would be a more durable option than the glass gong DaVinci sells. I hope it is possible...but how would it recess?

I really dont think its gonna involve a lot of trouble, I would just mimic the Ascent gong stem like this one below.

I already have the tooling to do this, just gotta make time is all. Should be easy peasy!

 

[stickstones]

So you will probably have two stems available...gong and not since the gong won't recess back into the unit.

 

[overvaped]

Hi friends!!
I lost my cypress solo stem...
I also have a granadillo stem, but I used to prefer the cypress one because it heat up much faster than the former.
As cypress stems were a special thing, I am looking for another wood that also heats up quickly...
any suggestions?

TIA.

 

[Quetzalcoatl]

I think it has more to do with the metal bowl thickness than it does with what kind of wood it is. Metal conducts heat (warms up) much better than wood.