Discontinued Lil' Bud by Vapwood

[nonbeliever]

Quick , 1 massive rip video . Well you be the judge this is stock LB , no water , no accessories, no gimmick. @GreenHopper and @nonbeliever , thanks again for watching!

Special thank you to Mike for making it all possible and happening, you the man, man !!

Edit : @nonbeliever , I also pocket the LB and/or have a case for it too . I pocket the roasting tube as well, sometimes in same pocket as LB or other. I try to keep a pocket only for the LB in a pants , hoodie, or coat pocket . Cargo pants/shorts work best but even dress pants work . My LB's been to church ! I carry a small vial with preshredded herb in it . Boom ! Lol @beyond6strings ! Nice!

Were you a deep water diver or something? You can take and hold some hits!

EDIT: mike, the more I see those blends, the more I like them. What are the woods on the Blend to the right?

 

[P.A.M.]

Were you a deep water diver or something? You can take and hold some hits!

EDIT: mike, the more I see those blends, the more I like them. What are the woods on the Blend to the right?

I am far from being a good swimmer, used to combust bongs "one-shot-deal" back in the day , its where I got the lung power experience . Thank you for the kind words

Here is photo of my LB case to add to my previous response to your carrying question.

Bought it on eBay for under $5. Does the trick when I need to be more discreet with smell or rare situation. I mostly pocket the LB by itself.

The battery case below is actual a waterproof case for matches . $1 at the dollar store ! Fits a 18650 cell perfectly !

 

[Bravesst]

I love the smaller form, but I don't need the extra heat. I want 3 mm's from basket screen to stem tip. The closer configuration may save some battery life, but it takes more effort to operate at the 1 mm distance. This is easily adjusted by shortening the stem's taper by 2 or 3 mm's. There still leaves plenty of space for screen insertion and packing properly.

Going forward, I will maintain the shortest height I can, as afforded me by the smaller magnets, but I'll eat up the height loss mostly in the switch box, slashing it 2 or 3 mm. I plan to keep the coil chamber and coil the same height, but increase the taper height by 2 or 3 mm, thus giving me 3 mm's between stem and basket screen - optimal distance on both sides of the basket.

The littler LB is very cool. I can wrap my entire hand around it. He's a full 1/8 shorter with the stem sunk an extra mm, so that's 4 mm total. Nice feel.

 

[duff]

Hey @Bravesst, I'm not certain that I'm following you on where you are with stem size/distance but whatever you do, please make it so that the greatest number of off-the-shelf stems can be used. I really don't want to have to order custom stems.

 

[Bravesst]

No worries there, only talking about a couple of test dummies. What I'm saying is, I can maintain the shorter height, and keep things as is at the taper by shrinking the switch box. I took the opportunity to test distances, but realized the current coil to basket screen and basket screen to stem distances are just about as good as it gets / 3 mm above and 3 below for a total of 6, or about 1/4".

 

[SpudBob]

The battery case below is actual a waterproof case for matches . $1 at the dollar store ! Fits a 18650 cell perfectly !

PAM strikes again. What a great idea. Ive got one of those, somewhere, in my camping kit!!!

 

[SpudBob]

Ive been testing MP bore size and think that Im getting the best mix with a 10mm. I think 8mm is a bit too small and tends to combust easier. 12mm, on the other hand and IMO flows too much and is harder to catch the wave so to speak. Ive got a MP on order from @Alan that is going to be 10mm and 3-4" long- for extra cooling. It will be 18mm on both ends for my WP. I think 10 is the sweet spot!

 

[beyond6strings]

Ive been testing MP bore size and think that Im getting the best mix with a 10mm. I think 8mm is a bit too small and tends to combust easier. 12mm, on the other hand and IMO flows too much and is harder to catch the wave so to speak. Ive got a MP on order from @Alan that is going to be 10mm and 3-4" long- for extra cooling. It will be 18mm on both ends for my WP. I think 10 is the sweet spot!

I'm finding about the same thing so I'm getting a couple similar to yours, but without the 18mm on both ends cuz I don't really use my LB through water, and when I do I have a GonG that works well.

So I'm really looking forward to getting those too.

 

[Bravesst]

Good morning FC...

So the testing continues. I know I've been on this topic awhile, but it's the most important aspect of the vape - tweaking the coil. I'm pretty sure I have it figured out.

Old Magnets
95 mm total height
S/B: 42 mm
Airpath or from S/B to Top: 54 mm*
Coil Comp: 30 mm
Coil Height: 25 mm
Taper Insertion: 17 mm

New Magnets
92 mm total height
S/B: 41 mm

Coil Comp: 30 mm
Coil Height: 25 mm
Taper Insertion: 20 mm

Distance from coil to basket screen from below is fixed at 5 mm's on both set ups.

I need to maintain the 54 mm for the airpath. With config two (shorter airpath), it is a bit harder to control, easier to combust, but super fast vapor. You can take a load down to nothing very easily. Literally instant vapor. Some may want to tame this beast, and I'll have 5 of them available.

Config two, longer airpath, a couple of mm's more distance between stem and basket screen and smoothness is the order of the day. Two mm's goes a long way, and you can ride the button a little longer in this set up (so probably a bit less efficient). Vapor not quite as rapid, but definitely fast. I find I can work the heat, hover it into the load longer before any hint of combustion. Every LB being made (except for six units) has configuration two.

In order to keep LB shorter, I have to shrink the switch box to keep the 53 mm airpath.

Future LB's with New Magnets
92: mm total height
s/b: 39 mm
Airpath: 54 mm
Coil Comp: 30 mm
Coil: 25 mm
Taper Insertion: 18 mm

After drawing it out, it's easy to see the key number here is the 10 mm's.
Shorter switch box, helps maintain the full 10 mm distance, the distance that allows a kind of mindless focus when hitting LB, instead of being at super attention to avoid too much heat. Cutting down a stem solves the problem, but simply pushing a screen deeper does not. I'm going to try a glass insert to reduce ID.

I know the closer config has benefits, maybe it just needs the right mouthpiece to get smoother performance, while keeping the power and expected efficiency. The close config also works well with a weaker battery.

STANDARD HEATER DISTANCES MAINTAINED / SWITCH BOX SHORTER

 

[Slickwilly]

This pic will make one customer very happy - both fully assembled.

Nice tweaking Mike

Like the shorter sb look with the switch more centered.

@Bravesst will the LBE have newest configuration between stem and coil, the shorter version, 2.?

 

[Bravesst]

The Elite could probably get away with being closer, just crank down the watts. I'm not 100% sure on this. That drop of change, like 2 mm's, puts the stem in a completely different heat zone. Lots of factors to consider as well. If it was just distance, you could simply push the screen deeper into the stem to adjust heat. Not so simple. The stem / screen seems to works best at about 1/16" from the tip regardless of what distance the stem is from the basket screen and coil.

 

[P.A.M.]

You can take a load down to nothing very easily. Literally instant vapor. Some may want to tame this beast

 

[Bravesst]

Got another 4 units built today. I'm close to getting ALL of batch 8 done, and most of the repairs / replacements. I realize that everything takes longer than anticipated, much like having work done on your home. It's always twice as much, and takes twice as long - at least I keep prices the same. I've cited examples in the past, how this directly affects your unit. I was describing this to a buddy over lunch the other day. Here's the example I used.

At every step of the way, everything is tweaked, brought forward in the build process. Before final assembly, the interior of the switch box and coil compartment are modified by hand for the first time, with a chisel and file, so as to fit the coil and switch. This is laborious work, but necessary but necessary to allow the LB 2.o updates.

At final assembly, I redo all switch box and coil compartment adjustments. I refile the mortise in the switch box, making sure the switch fits just right. I refile the groove in the coil compartment to give the rear coil post even more room. Those are two *redudant* processes I could just skip, but somehow these small, almost indescribable levels of perfection all come together to make LB as close to perfect as possible.

When it comes to coil installation. Every coil is installed in a mock set up to make sure it's 100%. I still adjust it to the actual LB it's going in. Sometimes this takes a few seconds, sometimes ten minutes, but it has to happen, tolerances are so close, micro adjustments of the coil have a huge impact on performance, and as much time and fussing necessary is justified to get LB to reach max potential.


Batch 8 customers will notice a remarkable improvement in quality, both functionally, as well as aesthetically. I think it will become clear why LB's take so long to build. When will my LB be done? Only when quality can be assured.
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Speaking of taming the beast. Alan suggested something incredibly simple, and I gave it a try.

The ID of the stem is 12mm. So, without having to really shorten the stem, you can bore a 1/2" hole over the 12 mm hole about half inch deep, allowing the screen to nest deeper. This also gives you a bigger bowl, keeps weed a bit deep, making stirring easier, and should keep things a little cooler.

The modified stem definitely helps, but in the future, I'd like to not have to use it. I actually like the modification for every LB. I shave about a mm off the stem (19/21), then bore a half inch hole about half inch deep into the stem tip, creating a neat little shelf for the basket screen, giving it a fixed location (another benefit). I really like this mod. Having a larger bowl is another aspect of this I'm looking forward to. More surface exposed to the same amount of heat should smooth things out a bit more.
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One of lumber deliveries arrived. Got 2 inch turning squares on PH, Cherry, Walnut, and Maple. Great kiln dried, squared up, awesome stuff, always available for a reasonable price.

After getting the stock, I decided to take a break from assembly indoors, and get into the wood shop for a bit. Love the wood shop. First thing I'd normally do is bring everything square and to the same size is already done. I can now go with my magic number - 34 mm, which is about 5 mm oversized in thickness and width of layer one (largest). The two outer layers can be cut down after gluing if necessary. The middle layers must be exact at 8 mm, as there is now way to adjust after glue up. Trying to not waste, I marked my reference edges with chalk, and developed a plan. Zip, zip, zip on the table saw to 34 mm x 34 mm and 34 mm x 10 mm. Next, over to the planer, bringing everything down to 32 mm (glue up thickness), and the 10 mm down to 8.

I take the 30 inch pieces and cut in half. I now have eight pieces at 32 mm x 32 mm x 15 inches and 16 pieces at 32 mm x 8 mm x 15 inches. In the interest of not wasting, as well as putting together nice combinations, I started to mix and match. I wound up with some 3 layer racing stripe Blends (Black & Tan & Roadster) as well as 4 layer (one thick, three thin).

I put together a few racing stripe options with the walnut, PH, maple, and cherry. I decided to use the thinner layers and see what some 4 layer units look like (one thick layer, three thin). Glue is drying now.
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Testing also continues. A recent build, a very cool Blend, is hitting very nicely with the customized mouthpiece (19/21 with 1/2 inch hole bored 1/2 inch deep). I love this combo. This is my third heavily tested unit of this batch - one shorty Blend, one standard Blend, and this most recent Blend. On this most recent unit, the coil was just built last week. Dare I say it, this is the best LB experience I've had to date. I can lean on the switch with no combustion and vapor is really fast. Trying to *tame the beast*, not for me... I am going to build every LB exactly like my newest latest DD - this is the Nirvana of LB's.

 

[Bravesst]

Here's a pic of my layer cake glue up

Hard to tell from the pic what woods are just being used as spacers. When I break it down and size it, I'll take another pic. Kinda looks like a strawberry layer cake. This afternoon, I'll be down in the dungeon, assembling once again, but hope to break this down and get a few more pics.

So here is my latest issue, and in the long run, a great issue to have - too much power. We are dealing with one 18650 battery, and the unit will perform within the limits of what it can put out. Except the heat developed, and its transfer are both affected by the coil's efficiency. With all the recent improvements, especially with the couple of shorty units, it became very obvious what a new battery can do. Forces you to pay attention when pulling on a fresh battery. Once down below 400, things are much easier to control. Hence I customized a few stems to work with the reduced distances. New units still performed better at below 400 than above. At least if you're a taste chaser, and hate any combustion or charring. I think the issue really was pushed with the last batch of coils I built. Something clicked, suddenly I was able to roll even tighter, straighter, coils, capable of delivering faster heat. Things continue to work synergistically off of one another - better coil, connections, foil, vent holes, tolerances, blah, blah, blah...

I should have no problem on batch 8 units with the larger sizing (96 mm), and I can easily adapt to the 92 mm units by shrinking the switch box 4 or 5 mm's. What is also going to change is the coil to stem distance. It's going to increase, rather than decrease, to accommodate and ever more powerful heat transfer via more efficient coil.

When it comes to the Elite, I'll have to experiment to see if closer might be better, or unnecessary. Right now, the shorties take a bit more focus, and it's pretty easy to lose a load to combustion if you're not careful. Personally, I like to be able to be a bit sloppier, and that is exactly what happens when the battery drops to 400 or lower.

 

[HerbieVonVapster]

So here is my latest issue, and in the long run, a great issue to have - too much power. We are dealing with one 18650 battery, and the unit will perform within the limits of what it can put out. Except the heat developed, and its transfer are both affected by the coil's efficiency. With all the recent improvements, especially with the couple of shorty units, it became very obvious what a new battery can do.

I think right there explains why my unit feels cooler now. Whenever I order a new vaporizer I always buy a new set of batteries. As the batteries are used more it's not runnings as hot as first few uses.

That's one of the many reason I'm moving more into a regulated vaporizer for normally medicating. I still enjoy it a lot in its current travel spot and the unregulated experience when I want to mix thing up.

Still with needing to medicate every roughly every 60 mins to maintain pain control and to slow muscle spasm disease progress down. The little things become more annoying, so looking forward to the elite filling a much larger spot in my collection with the elite being regulated. I medicated out of necessity so ease of use is very important. Easier to drive a automatic than a manual now a days.


Glad see all the improvements on the lil bud figure most will make there way into the elites. Been camping and away a bit. Has any progress been made on the elites or you holding off tell inventory and the blends are finished?

 

[Bravesst]

Yes, I'm looking forward to the Elite as well, especially as it relates to this latest development of even more heat to tame. I'm enjoying my under 4.0 volt batteries paired with the brand new coil, in the unit I'm using now. My first bowl or two with a new battery Going forward this will be tamed one of two ways, the Elite, shrinking the switch box and increasing the coil to stem distance by 3 mm's.

The Elite is about to be most of what I do. Yes, I'm getting this batch together, finishing up repairs, inventory. And yes again, getting ready to head postal with almost every unit from batch 8, as well as a few repairs. Once that happens, it's on to the chip. And pretty much every improvement on LB will make its way to the Elite.

I just laid out a few units, basically drawing what I've been talking about on an actual unit. I like the layout a lot at 92 mm tall (1/8" shorter), the switch box eats up 37 mm, leaving 55 mm for the coil (25m) and stem (20m) or 45 mm, leaving 10 mm's from coil to stem tip, with the basket screen mounted in between. This is slightly different than my diagram (s/b was 39 mm with 53 above). This config gets the stem to sit 2 mm's deeper, for an overall shorter unit with the stem inserted. I left everything untouched, probably won't get to it unit next week. Just trying to get some R&D done, while assembling a few units.

 

[Saulsaul]

https://imgur.com/a/92de0yu
https://imgur.com/a/ZHmSUE5

My favorite mobile vape

Happy day to all

 

[Bravesst]

Good morning all,

I'm literally burnt out from testing. This happens every time I test too much. My airway gets irritated, and even cool / smooth hits are irritating. I need to cut down on testing, just sip away, and stop ripping for a few days. When testing, I also take rapid fire hits, pushing LB to the limit. In everyday life, I never rip, rip, rip. Taming the shorties doesn't help either. My best way to enjoy a session is slowly, sipping away. For now, I'm gonna have to take a break from testing, and slow down on vaping. No matter how good something is, it can be overdone. I may have to resort to a wispy cartridge pen for a couple of days. Maybe save LB just for evenings at home.

As always, when nearing a shipping date, I have lots of LB's assembled, assigned to customers. All told 18 sold units / 5 repairs. All but a few of the most recent sales are assembled. I have to go back and rebuild a few units from scratch to finalize batch 8. I will ship the batch in two trips to the post office - most likely this Monday and next Monday.

------------------------------------------------------------
Then it's Inventory and Elite
Speaking of the Elite: Coupon Code ELITIST get's you 10%
of the Elite pre-order, available in Cherry or Blends
------------------------------------------------------------

Note on battery life -*other* factors
When do you dump?
Taking the ABV down further, or having that ability, can add hits per session, but cut down on how many sessions you can get from a fresh battery.

Do you lean on the switch and pull slowly?
I like to pick up the unit, ride the switch, and slowly suck the vapor out of the flower. Lots of time on the button can also cut down on battery life.

I remember complaining about not being able to get heat at 3.7, now I'm well into the 3.6's before I even notice anything. No preheat, just a nice result, pretty much down to 3.6, and with a drop of pre-heat, even lower.

Note on the pen: before I finished this post, I was back sipping on LB, no more testing for a few days.

 

[HerbieVonVapster]

I'm literally burnt out from testing. This happens every time I test too much. My airway gets irritated, and even cool / smooth hits are irritating. I need to cut down on testing, just sip away, and stop ripping for a few days. When testing, I also take rapid fire hits, pushing LB to the limit. In everyday life, I never rip, rip, rip. Taming the shorties doesn't help either. My best way to enjoy a session is slowly, sipping away. For now, I'm gonna have to take a break from testing, and slow down on vaping. No matter how good something is, it can be overdone. I may have to resort to a wispy cartridge pen for a couple of days. Maybe save LB just for evenings at home.

Note on the pen: before I finished this post, I was back sipping on LB, no more testing for a few days.

Hehe well that didn't last long.
I need to do a reset of tolerance on vaping myself. So considering going 3 days just with tinctures. Hasn't been more than 3 waking hours in years without vaping so have a feeling it last about as long as the pen did for you.

 

[cpk]

Nice. I usually pulse the button to extend battery life and use a slow draw.

 

[Bravesst]

@HerbieVonVapster Yeah, I love flower in LB. The convection is hard to beat flavor / effect wise.

Been doing lots of stuff lately behind the scenes, while assembling batch 8. I hope this is the last batch that's got a half dozen repairs, but I think it probably will be.

I almost can't keep up with inquiries, questions. I need to simplify my situation. First thing that had to happen is the website had to be reorganized, simplified.

Now, posted for sale are these products. I hope this simplifies things. Please let me know what you think. >> LB Store

LB Classic
Includes Cherry, Walnut, Quilted Maple, Purple Heart. All can be found under the Classic heading.

LB Uniq
Units in pre-assembly, or completely assembled that you can look at and pick. These units will be posted and priced individually.

LB Blend
The templates are still a work in progress, and I'm also working on the actual models to post with each style.

LB Elite
October is Elite month, and that's been the plan all along. Still not sure of final pricing, but the bare bones Cherry or Blended Elite price at $299 with 10% off is an introductory offer. The extra parts alone to build the Elite are roughly $100 per unit or more, and we're just getting started. i'm actually still waiting for some spacers to arrive (keeps the chip off the unit) before I can actually build one. I think I need to build a rough first prototype, not really worried about perfection, just see how it works. After the first one, I can probably hone in a lot more. Should be interesting to see what @Alan 's coil will do with a DNA chip, even with no cover plates installed, and I see that happening pretty quick.

The exact pairing the chip to LB, at least aesthetically, is about the cover plate, getting this just right is what my challenge will be, in addition to making all the connections. I have the option of purchasing pre-made plates (nice ones you've seen are about $25 or $30), or crafting them myself. If I can't build something as nice as what they offer in about 30 minutes, it's not worth doing it myself. This will work itself out at the very beginning. I'd like to make the plates changeable, and I believe they are set up to be swapped out with magnets. Another cool feature. I may have to do something with the back plate to match the front plate. At this point, I'm not really sure about the extra work involved, but I'll allow for sometimes extended time involved because of the learning curve, like always, when pricing out my labor.

So the next batch will feature Elites, and possible some Classics, Blends or Uniqs, depending upon how sales go.

I snuck into the wood shop to continue the work on the couple of units I need to fill 8. These are turning out to be, and what I knew would happen, The Perfect Batch. Let me explain.

You have two things going on to make LB a better vape - new improvements and perfection of current. Sometimes a new improvement will skew perfection a bit. Might take a bit to get back to the perfection of what's new. Lots of new stuff in LB lately. Lots of new tools and different ways to do things as well. These five little units are getting the benefit of a lot of change, but nothing on this batch hasn't been done. However, it's never been done as well as this. And as the units come together, I can tell immediately how everything effortlessly lines up, no struggles - straight, flat, square, from the start, with everything perfectly sized and interchangeable. The coils that will enter these units will also be as near perfection possible.

Now, finally, I can take the really long, deep breath and pull back from tweaking, and put my effort into something new, once again - the Elite. I can now draw the LB classic in very fine detail with no references, just from my head (that's a good feeling). The imprint is tattooed on my brain. Question is, is there any more room in there for an LB Elite? I think there might be.

 

[GreenHopper]

Quick , 1 massive rip video . Well you be the judge this is stock LB , no water , no accessories, no gimmick. @GreenHopper and @nonbeliever , thanks again for watching!

Special thank you to Mike for making it all possible and happening, you the man, man !!

Edit : @nonbeliever , I also pocket the LB and/or have a case for it too . I pocket the roasting tube as well, sometimes in same pocket as LB or other. I try to keep a pocket only for the LB in a pants , hoodie, or coat pocket . Cargo pants/shorts work best but even dress pants work . My LB's been to church ! I carry a small vial with preshredded herb in it . Boom ! Lol @beyond6strings ! Nice!

Thanks for the shout out bud.

 

[Bravesst]

I'm all about simplification right now. I think the website got kinda cluttered, when I really only have 4 designs for sale, Classic, Blend, Uniq, Elite pre-order, and there is still the $50 down payment option that is virtually like making a full payment. I actually encourage customers to take advantage of the *buy now, pay later* approach. It's like a small, interest free loan. It also might make waiting a month or two a bit more tolerable Unfortunately, I can't build more Lil' Buds in less time, but at least you can sit on the funds while you wait. The $50 down payment lets me know you're a serious buyer, and I have no problem getting started on your unit. You will be notified prior to shipping to square up. At checkout, you can select which item your putting a payment on.

The store is smaller, but with more choices within each line - Classic, Blend, Uniq, Elite. The Uniqs will have to be posted individually, but I think I'll probably put most of them in the *special deals gallery*, on an as is basis, and just sell off here. Uniqs will also include retired DD's, and cosmetic issues, as well as experiments, or me just have an idea that I want to bring to fruition.

I'd like to stay and chat, but unassembled LB's are calling...

 

[HerbieVonVapster]

LB Elite
October is Elite month, and that's been the plan all along. Still not sure of final pricing, but the bare bones Cherry or Blended Elite

Great so there will also be blended elites? I order walnut for the prototype is that still going be a option? Or more a special prototype deal? How much more would I have to pay or bride you to make mine a figured maple hehe.

Then again after seeing unit #026 I could be happy with walnut too. That ones sure's a beauty

 

[P.A.M.]

Thanks for the shout out bud.

You are welcome, please play again.

___
Where's Lil' Bud