curling irons look interesting to me for a homemade vaporizer. cheap, almost vaping temps, heat control.
i took a couple apart and it seems like a large test tube could be fit into them, just like a giant Vapolution copy cat (that won't stand up). and talk about stealth...hehe...for half of the population anyway
And, while they're made to direct heat outwards, the tube is made of metal, so i bet they also act like little ovens inside.
Edit:
I think I made the first curling iron vaporizer today. convection, glass on glass, smaller longer glasss tube as mouth piece and bowl, SS pot scrubbers as screens. Pyrex test tube sticks into the curling iron 4", extends out 2"
Summary:
1" curling iron
1/2" pyrex test tube, 6 inches long
3/8" glass tube, 10 inches long
stainless steel pot scrubber
Notes from my brief exp...
keep the herb in the lower 3" of the long tube, using small but sort of dense balls of pre-burned stainless steel pot scrubber (not fake plated ones), don't let it cook unless you want it all in one puff. Experiment with drawing the tube in and out if you sense it getting too hot.
burn the SS pot scrubber before use, just to red hot
(don't use imitation stainless scrubs like the plated brass ones as Wall-e)
Leave some scrub sticking out the bottom to make a handle and cushion the tip
Check clearance in the tube for the test tube. One ceramic model i took apart had a clip holding the ceramic element against the tube, one end of the clip would need to be bent down. Trickier is whether ytou can open a hole just large enough for the test tube, because it would be nice to have a snug fit for teh flour paste to work well.
seal around the test tube at the end of the curling iron with a thick paste of kitchen flour and few drops of water, this is commonly used in home distillation of alcohol, it's just temporary, and as it cooks down and cracks you should dig it out and replace it, or fit with an allumina washer to seal and insullate, but flour's cheap and food grade.
slide the slender tube in and out as you sense it getting too hot, keep the temp set low at first especially if you're gonna let it cook in there. Letting it cook make the vapor go in one or two puffs, while drawing slow to medium as soon as you put it in stretches it out. I'm still playing with temp because its over-toasting.
this was inspired by trying to think of products that are already mass produced that have some sort of heat control, curling irons seemed like the nine buck chuck
Modify Curling iron
remove tube
Three screws around the base, which also double as the spring clip mounts, remove the "cool tip" plastic tip, then gently pull the tube off of the base, there should be just enough slack in the wires to do this).
drill and/or grind or file out a hole in the end, try to keep it only big enough for the test tube (for better support if you decide not to stick it all the way in (look at where the heating is happening as a starting point)
i could be wrong, perhaps the herb should be higher up so it's not directly next to the heating element...? I'll play with it, but it's damn easy to pull out the bottom scrubber to change out the spent herb)
my test tube sticks out a couple inches, which may be better just in that it gets your face those couple of inches farther away from the nasty wires cooking inside these things (definitely not food grade, so make that seal good!) but, i could see cutting it off to allow re-adapting the "cool tip" to make it look more stock when not in use, pretty stealth if you don't scar up the finish on the curling iron when you're drilling the hole - if there's a female type person around)
Note: I've seen a new curling iron that purports to have better temperature control, and a ceramic element, for $32 on sale at Sally Beauty, reg $39.