Quick Vestratto Forge induction heater

[LordKahel]

For those wondering, I am still waiting on them to tell me what is happening with my forge (it been 3 weeks since they received my unit). Contacted Support yesterday and they told me that they contacted the dev team but that he would let John update me on my forge (it never a good sign when it the boss telling something to the customer) but no message from John so far. So this has been a stressful experience for me so far , they have been vague , especially never mentioning if they would fix it or not. At this point i am scared that i just lost 350$ USD because why would they avoid giving me an update after 3 weeks if they planned on fixing it or giving me a replacement.

I just don't know what to do anymore and it so frustrating...

 

[Texus]

Unfortunately, their commications has not always been great. I believe one of these Vestratto threads has the direct email for John.

 

[LordKahel]

Unfortunately, their commications has not always been great. I believe one of these Vestratto threads has the direct email for John.

Yeah they have been communicating with the johnmumford gmail e-mail that i see here . At this point he is just ignoring it , because they told me he would try to find the time to update me during the week-end ... Surprise . no update.

 

[LordKahel]

Update!

I talked to John directly on the phone . He apologized for the miscommunication and the delays , explained everything in details . Waiting on some parts but my Forge will be fixed and sent back soon.

I am happy with the resolution of the problem and John was very nice .

 

[hotmeals]

I got my Forge in the Tornado bundle yesterday, and the build quality is a little worse than I was expecting. The plastic housing is somewhat thin and creaky. The seam on one side of the handle isn't closed all the way which makes it less sturdy as well. Hopefully this is just from a loose screw, I'll have to see if I can find a Torx driver around to try tightening it. Performance, however, has been top notch. The recommended beginner setting of 2600J 80% power was roasting beyond my preference, and after a few seshes with it, my best hit has been using 2200J at 70% power, with the integrated stem set to medium airflow. I'm going to try bumping the power percentage up a little next hit. Loving it so far, but I think Vestratto really set a high expectation of build quality with the Anvil along with the price, and for me that expectation was not quite met.

 

[Smknbud]

I got my Forge in the Tornado bundle yesterday, and the build quality is a little worse than I was expecting. The plastic housing is somewhat thin and creaky. The seam on one side of the handle isn't closed all the way which makes it less sturdy as well. Hopefully this is just from a loose screw, I'll have to see if I can find a Torx driver around to try tightening it.

Huh. Not the impression I have with my Forge since I've had since May. The plastic housing on mine is creak free and the portion where you insert the battery has ribbed reinforcement and is as rigid as should be expected without the battery inserted. Seams are all tight on mine. The only nit pick I can come up with is it's bulky. Performance wise, as you also stated, is top notch.

 

[Knewt]

Huh. Not the impression I have with my Forge since I've had since May. The plastic housing on mine is creak free and the portion where you insert the battery has ribbed reinforcement and is as rigid as should be expected without the battery inserted. Seams are all tight on mine. The only nit pick I can come up with is it's bulky. Performance wise, as you also stated, is top notch.

This has also been my experience.

 

[hotmeals]

Good news, I found a Torx key and was able to tighten the handle up. It feels much more solid now

 

[hotmeals]

I just tried a little Dynavap sesh with the Forge. Had a surprisingly good no click bowl with the M7 at 350J, 30% power, cascade mode.

 

[Knewt]

I just tried a little Dynavap sesh with the Forge. Had a surprisingly good no click bowl with the M7 at 350J, 30% power, cascade mode.

I’ve never tried a Dynavap, but those are really low settings in my experience. I’m currently using 2150 Joules, 76% power Cascade mode.

 

[hotmeals]

They are low settings for sure. I'm aiming for a slow session style of Dynavap usage with those settings. My last Anvil hit was 2250J, 75%. Haven't tried cascade with the Anvil yet

 

[hotmeals]

Welp, my Forge just broke also. I decided to put an Anvil screen into my Tornado to try it out because I assume they're just using the same screens anyway. I stuck it into the Forge, it immediately made a beep and went into "pause". The Forge now will not detect a load. I tried Anvil and Dynavap. I tried turning it on and off and replacing the battery. Quite irritating and not at all what I expect from Vestratto. This was supposed to be the vape that was designed for the Forge from the ground up.

edit: @LordKahel would you mind sharing more details about what went wrong with your unit?

edit2: I emailed John and this seems to be a known problem with the first batch of Forges. He came across as very earnestly wanting to solve the problem, and I believe they will.

 

[BushRanger]

Quote:

Hi Guys,

John here. We have had two more Tornado related failures so please DO NOT use the Tornado in your Forge until we sort this out. We are on this as maximum priority and will be reporting progress. The engineers are starting hard at this in the morning.

 

[Vestratto]

Welp, my Forge just broke also. I decided to put an Anvil screen into my Tornado to try it out because I assume they're just using the same screens anyway. I stuck it into the Forge, it immediately made a beep and went into "pause". The Forge now will not detect a load. I tried Anvil and Dynavap. I tried turning it on and off and replacing the battery. Quite irritating and not at all what I expect from Vestratto. This was supposed to be the vape that was designed for the Forge from the ground up.

edit: @LordKahel would you mind sharing more details about what went wrong with your unit?

edit2: I emailed John and this seems to be a known problem with the first batch of Forges. He came across as very earnestly wanting to solve the problem, and I believe they will.

Hi guys
John here.

I'm really sorry but right now I'd ask you to NOT use the Tornado with your FORGE induction heater until we find out what the problem is. We know a few things that it isn't - like over-heating etc. but it is beyond me until I get engineering support in the morning.

In any event we will be on this as our highest priority. I haven't heard any recent reports of problems with the ANVIL so I think you can continue to use that without any trouble. We don't want you to brick your FORGE on a "known problem". Once we fix the issue we will be working with each of you to remedy the situation. I'm really sorry this is happening but we are totally committed to this project so please stick with us.

Not every unit is showing the problem but please don't risk bricking your unit before we have a fix!

 

[LordKahel]

From what i understood it was a sensor that overheated and failed. But it was with an Anvil on a hot summer day.

I received my fixed unit a few days after my last update.

 

[Roffa]

Hi guys
John here.

I'm really sorry but right now I'd ask you to NOT use the Tornado with your FORGE induction heater until we find out what the problem is. We know a few things that it isn't - like over-heating etc. but it is beyond me until I get engineering support in the morning.

In any event we will be on this as our highest priority. I haven't heard any recent reports of problems with the ANVIL so I think you can continue to use that without any trouble. We don't want you to brick your FORGE on a "known problem". Once we fix the issue we will be working with each of you to remedy the situation. I'm really sorry this is happening but we are totally committed to this project so please stick with us.

Not every unit is showing the problem but please don't risk bricking your unit before we have a fix!

So what's the news? I finally got hold of the milwaukee batteries: Forge recognized my Tornado for a split second, now goes into "waiting for the load". So what do I do from the Netherlands? Send it back? Send an email to John? Wait for a reply? My Tornado doesn't have a screen, the Forge was fresh out of its packing with fresh Milwaukee brand battery.

Quote:

Hi Guys,

John here. We have had two more Tornado related failures so please DO NOT use the Tornado in your Forge until we sort this out. We are on this as maximum priority and will be reporting progress. The engineers are starting hard at this in the morning

Outrageous when you think about it. Back in May forked out lots to enable Vestratto R&D, finally the wait is over, 2 months over, we get a pre release product that clearly isn't ready for its star complement, the Tornado. It just boggles the mind. Just like the oversight of not making the Tornado fit to Anvil stems or stem adapters. I love the Tornado and I had great faith in John and the Vestratto engineering team, but this is bad, added to which the difficult comms from Vestratto to its user base (which is loyal and forgiving)

 

[AndyO]

Outrageous when you think about it. Back in May forked out lots to enable Vestratto R&D, finally the wait is over, 2 months over, we get a pre release product that clearly isn't ready for its star complement, the Tornado. It just boggles the mind. Just like the oversight of not making the Tornado fit to Anvil stems or stem adapters. I love the Tornado and I had great faith in John and the Vestratto engineering team, but this is bad, added to which the difficult comms from Vestratto to its user base (which is loyal and forgiving)

Even worse when you consider that the "old tech" that the Forge was supposed to replace works really well with the Tornado, while costing a LOT less and utilising batteries that are accessible to most of us.

 

[Roffa]

Even worse when you consider that the "old tech" that the Forge was supposed to replace works really well with the Tornado, while costing a LOT less and utilising batteries that are accessible to most of us.

Totally. I'm on the old iSpire Wand now and it functions fine. Also bought Milwaukee batteries for a considerable sum, bc they're exotic here in Europe. And then John's email: "the test unit was fine". Yeah, should have done sample testing of your production units then. I do respect the -shall we say - compactness of artisanal vape businesses, and everything Vestratto makes is great for medical users ( I am one), but rehearsing on camera + poor communication skills is not a good combination. Unfortunately, because I didn't mind paying up front for development. But just not in a finished product.

Adding: I'm seriously considering this SP Tools BEAST:

 

[Orvaxxx]

Totally. I'm on the old iSpire Wand now and it functions fine. Also bought Milwaukee batteries for a considerable sum, bc they're exotic here in Europe. And then John's email: "the test unit was fine". Yeah, should have done sample testing of your production units then. I do respect the -shall we say - compactness of artisanal vape businesses, and everything Vestratto makes is great for medical users ( I am one), but rehearsing on camera + poor communication skills is not a good combination. Unfortunately, because I didn't mind paying up front for development. But just not in a finished product.

Adding: I'm seriously considering this SP Tools BEAST:

That Beast carries a hefty price tag

 

[Vapetothegrave]

I just really wish it was able to have the firmware flashed... would make the prospects of our solution a bit more tolerable.

Totally. I'm on the old iSpire Wand now and it functions fine. Also bought Milwaukee batteries for a considerable sum, bc they're exotic here in Europe. And then John's email: "the test unit was fine". Yeah, should have done sample testing of your production units then. I do respect the -shall we say - compactness of artisanal vape businesses, and everything Vestratto makes is great for medical users ( I am one), but rehearsing on camera + poor communication skills is not a good combination. Unfortunately, because I didn't mind paying up front for development. But just not in a finished product.

Adding: I'm seriously considering this SP Tools BEAST:

"Rapidly heats steel to over 800°C (1472°F) within seconds"

That's only 200c off melting the copper core out of the bottom of the Stainless Steel

 

[Slartibartfast67]

I signed up for the updated on Forge availability on their website some time ago, and have never heard anything. Has anyone else on the waiting list ever actually gotten to order a Forge? Are they still actively selling them? Has anyone outside of the initial offering back on 4/20 ever received one?

 

[CharmCityVapeGuy]

I signed up for the updated on Forge availability on their website some time ago, and have never heard anything. Has anyone else on the waiting list ever actually gotten to order a Forge? Are they still actively selling them? Has anyone outside of the initial offering back on 4/20 ever received one?

They had some technical issues that needed to be fixed and they’re still working out how to get the ones people already have replaced. I’m sure they’re holding on sending more until that done.

 

[Slartibartfast67]

They had some technical issues that needed to be fixed and they’re still working out how to get the ones people already have replaced. I’m sure they’re holding on sending more until that done.

Thanks for the information. I should have considered something like that.

 

[Smknbud]

Posted on Discord from @Vestratto:

1. Update on Forge Repairs: We have reached out and requested early adopters of the initial 10 “bricked” units to return the units by tracked ground parcel for retrofit and software upgrade. Not all of the units have been received yet at Vestratto as some early adopters among the initial 10 units are requesting to keep the Forge for use with their Anvil. However, many units are in transit and have not reached us because of the nationwide Canada Post Strike which began on Nov 15, 2024. We have since held off retrieving the units and will revive the programme the moment USPS\CP is in operation again as we are reimbursing Tracked Ground Service costs for their returns. Shipping these units back by any other carrier is rather tenuous right now as the Canada Post strike has cause delays in almost all carriers within Canada. We definitely do not want these units to go missing. Meanwhile, our sub-contractors have tested the upgrades and have proceeded to order new circuit boards and parts for the swap out. They are expected to arrive in late January. We will continue to process swap outs and upgrades to the units in priority sequence of their purchase when the Canada Post strike is over. We will send detailed instructions with regards to the Declared Value for Customs for returns outside Canada and where the Forge should be sent to. We anticipate that we will be ready for a full swing swap out in late January\February 2025.
   As we will process these returns in the order it was purchased, please DO NOT ship your Forge back without receiving an email from us or a RMA. Thank you for your patience. (edited)