Discontinued Pandora Kit from Purple-Days

[DevoTheStrange]

Devo, I will check on the hole size. :/ I recently ran into a few tight ones myself, first time this has happened. But knocked them home. I'm thinking I had a piece of stainless tubing that wasn't quite round. Hard to believe that a Freud 1" bit is not 1" but I will check that too. Either way it will be resolved. Quality control steps will be taken to assure that they fit properly. I will report back on this later today.

Hazy, get an e-mail to Pammy and let her know who you are (name) and what you want and she will get you a checkout that deletes shipping on those items (since you are already paying shipping).

Yeah I actually ended up demolishing that wooden piece you gave me, it wasn't up to the task. I would say that the hole was about half a millimeter too small. I had to use a bit of brute force to put the sleeve in.
At first I was all "... Damn, I don't think this thing is going to fit in any further" but after a small vape session with my other PD the solution came to me quite easily. Remove the heat mass, leaving only the sleeve, and use a bunch of spare washers as a flat surface to pound the sleeve down.
In my attempt to seat the clip I accidently bent the cross bar. (this was using the wooden piece that came with the kit). I guess I bent it when the wood decided to split from the hammer. Fortunately for me I had some stock wire on hand that was the exact same size as the bent piece, made from stainless steel as well. So I had to rebuild that piece.

So for those that the metal sleeve doesn't slide in correctly. My solution was to first sand out the hole to help it go in a bit better and to seat the sleeve without the heat mass inside it using a stack of one inch washers and a 3/4ths inch dowel as a hammering device (the wooden piece tom includes is too soft for this task if the hole is to small)

 

[Purple-Days]

I'm heading to the shop right now to test some holes and a bit of tubing from a different length of 1" stuff. Be back in a few.

Several test holes with the Freud 1" carbide bit (fairly new tool in the shop, so it was suspect) and a new length of tubing. The holes should be somewhat snug, it is a 1" sleeve and 1" hole. But I am leaning toward an eccentric piece of stainless tubing.

Just remembered a box of bodies is sitting out in the shop and they are bored, checked a new piece of sleeve in quite a few, snug but good.

The sleeve should not be 'difficult' to push into the hole. Rotate the sleeve a little to see if there is an alignment that is best (carefull of the sharp inner edges) This is normal. If not contact us, a new bit of sleeve material is an easy fix.

And I have always found that a bit of roatation finds the best orientation between hole and sleeve. Neither of which will ever be 'perfectly' round.

 

[lwien]

Great feedback Devo. It's info like this that will allow Tom to tweak the Pandora for all it's worth.

It's so nice to see a product take off like this. Well done, Tom.

 

[HazyDayz]

Hazy, get an e-mail to Pammy and let her know who you are (name) and what you want and she will get you a checkout that deletes shipping on those items (since you are already paying shipping).

Thats great, thanks.

 

[Purple-Days]

Yes, that's what we need, Lwien. I listen.

BTW it may not have been a bad length of tubing either. I cut the tubing with a roller cutter. If you don't crank it down enough on the first spin round you can get a barber poll with the cutting wheel, so I may have been cranking a little too hard on the cutter, for that first pass (causing an out of round), in an effort to not screw up. Yep, trying to not screw up may have caused a screw up.

In the end a trial fit of each sleeve to each body is the best QC solution.

 

[lwien]

Yep, trying to not screw up may have caused a screw up.

In the world of sports, that statement is a mantra.

 

[DevoTheStrange]

The sleeve should not be 'difficult' to push into the hole. Rotate the sleeve a little to see if there is an alignment that is best (carefull of the sharp inner edges) This is normal. If not contact us, a new bit of sleeve material is an easy fix.

Mine was extremely difficult to push in, wouldn't even rotate. And yes those edges are sharp, I cut one of my fingers.

 

[Purple-Days]

Sorry for the difficulty, thanks for letting us know, now we can see that it doesn't happen again.

 

[DevoTheStrange]

I still had a blast making it though, I think the tiny amount of shed blood was well worth it... and the end result will actually help out future kit buyers. So I am glad to contribute... The Pandora is going to be my main vape for the day time, and my original is going to stay at home. Feels nice to have more flexibility with my PD experience.

 

[lwien]

Consider spilling your blood in your PD a sign of bonding. You are now forever..................attached.

 

[DevoTheStrange]

that and I also tried to attach one of my fingers to the body using a hammer. This occurred when I demolished the wooden piece that came with the kit. It spit and sent the hammer into the same finger that I cut.
At that point I was about ready to give up for the day.... got pissed, had to vape.... calmed down, and finished the build.

 

[stricknine]

Hi Tom,

Just bought the Pandora Kit and looking forward to the project and the PD experience.

I have and Iolite and Extreme and love them both. But the extreme is a little messy with a lot of parts to keep clean. But, you can't beat it for its mutlifunctionalty

Now I am ready to go with simple to use and easy to clean.

One question I have is about shaping the tubes. What do you mean by that? Forming the actual mouthpiece? I guess I am getting ahead. All of that is for sure in the disc

Thanks for offering the Pandora kit.

Rick

 

[Purple-Days]

Hey there, thanks for your support.

Yahoo mail is down or Pammy would confirm your order.

Anyway shaping tubes: I get the polypropylene in as 8 foot x 1/2" solid rods. I cut them to length and then drill them through, then drill for the vapor tip.

At that point they are a tube but the ends are square, if you see what I mean. Rounding over these ends is what I mean by shaping. You can treat the poly just like wood in many respects. It's just like rounding over a wooden dowel. You can hold the poly in one hand and shape with sand-paper in the other, or if you can access a 1/2" drill or drill press, chuck the poly and spin it, shaping with the sandpapers. The kit has papers up to 600 grit for a smooth finish. Whenever you work plastics use slow speeds, 900 or 1200 rpm.

 

[stricknine]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I understand what you mean now. Thanks for the detailed explanation.
Really looking forward to Pandora becoming a good friend

Although I may rename her...if that's allowed

 

[Purple-Days]

Pandora is really just a concept, not a unit name so much. It's still a Purple-Days, but purchased as a Pandora Kit.

 

[lwien]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I understand what you mean now. Thanks for the detailed explanation.
Really looking forward to Pandora becoming a good friend

Although I may rename her...if that's allowed

Just be sure to rename her something in Na'vi.

 

[Purple-Days]

NO, no... I get your reference Lwien, but this name is very much prior to that. I don't mean ancient myth either. This idea came 'bout March 2008, just after the crossbar invention. The idea was if anybody (copycat) opened the box, I would do this.

BTW never seen it... You know I live in the weeds...

 

[lwien]

NO, no... I get your reference Lwien, but this name is very much prior to that. I don't mean ancient myth either. This idea came 'bout March 2008, just after the crossbar invention. The idea was if anybody (copycat) opened the box, I would do this.

I know. I was here, remember?

 

[HighSti]

I don't mean to sound picky or anything but if we were to order a pandora kit, would there be anyway to request a unit with a less rounded top such as the ones on your home page? I know you turn each one and none are exactly the same. I really like that actually. Gives it a sense of originality. I used to work in a woodshop regularly and really admire your work on the lathe.

Also I know you may not want to do this to keep it exclusive to kit buyers and I fully understand if it's not possible. No worries, but I just wanted to ask if there is anyway to preveiw pandora instructions BEFORE you buy? Like I said, if there is any issue with that then it's fully understandable.

 

[Purple-Days]

Yeah, I know buddy.

HighSti,
Here is the thing with the Pandora Kit, you are being taught to fish. You can take these instructions and make one that looks like... Whooohaaoo Godzilla ! ! ! Just kidding, somewhat. I expect all kinds of variations on the theme.

What I am saying is they are all different.

Instructions are 3MB. Most of a Data DVD, so no full preview.

But, I can give you some samples.

Here is a portion of the Heat Exchanger (printable) instructions, they refer to pictures (HE001 and 002) in the same folder:

Pandora Kit
Use safety glasses
Heat exchanger construction page 1

Take out the packs with the SS washers and the flared stainless tube
and other Heat Exchanger (HE) parts.

Pictures,Washer Pack and Flared HE Tube Pack
HE001) 20- #304 Stainless Steel (SS) flat washers
7- Black Oxide SS 'Dark Fin' washers
HE002) 1- 3/8" SS Heat Exchanger Tube
1- Plated Spring Steel Retaining Clip
1- 1/16" SS Rod
1- 1" SS Top Washer

The 3/8" Heat Exchanger (HE) Tube has been flared and drilled through for the SS crossbar. Set this on a stable work surface, flared end down. You will now stack the Dark Fin washers and the Flat washers as you choose.

We stack with 6 Dark Fin (DF) washers and as many flat washers as it takes.
You must end with a Dark Fin washer at the top of the stack and the top washer
(has two holes) over that leaving enough room to insert the crossbar.

The crossbar should be a little snug to fit. Washers vary in thickness and have a top side and bottom. Stacking them all the same will yield a slightly different stack height than alternating or random stacking. So by flipping some of the flat washers or adding one or subtracting one, you should get a reasonable fit of the crossbar.

This crossbar fit wlll be be tightened in a moment, and is not critical, but the top washer should be touching the crossbar at this point...

The instructions go on.

We also include a video clip of the whole assembly process. Some folks learn from reading, some from video.

We also have a pictures in each assembly folder and they have captions to help.

or

I tried to make it so anybody with a few basic skills could make a successful project.

 

[Mosquito]

Just ordered my Pandora Kit last night. Very excited to get to work on it during spring break. I'll be looking forward to dusting off my soldering iron in a few days. Keep up the great work!

 

[HazyDayz]

After reading loads about this quality product and the way Tom and Pammy work I expected nothing less, the instructions seem well thought out and easy to follow. Even a dumb ass like me should be able to pull it off!

Really looking forward to getting my hands on this unit!

 

[HighSti]

Wow. Thankyou for the great response. I guess I shouldn't have to worry about it because it appears that the instuctions were well made and I'm pretty confident in my constuction skills. Looking to get a kit sometime in the near future when I can gather some cash. thanks for making something that brings such excitement for a person like myself.

 

[DevoTheStrange]

This ? is for tom.... is it possible to order unassembled and unshaped stems by themselves? for those that want extra stems, but still like to put things together? Just a thought.

 

[HighSti]

Regarding stems, I was wondering if it would be okay to make the stems ehh half the length when we put em together? I saw the stems that are used for whip attachments and i know you send them in normal length but if i decided to cut those in half, would it be too hot? I was thinking about using them like a normal stem but i like the look of the shorter ones.