Seed Beads: affordable, available, and effective vapor diffusion!

[whosgottheherb]

good deal. tbh, the beads dont look like glass but I haven't purchased them yet so I'll see when I do.. I plan on buying the ones that are shaped like a y, do you think these will work even better than the round ones?

btw, I plan on buying the beads from Hobby Lobby because I work there so it's easiest for me..

 

[aero18]

People have asked about recommended seed beads, so here it is (my recommendation): http://www.overstock.com/Jewelry-Wa...-of-4000/3438005/product.html?cid=143688&fp=F (others should be fine as well )

Also, clear or colored beads should be fine, Whosgottheherb (I am still not sure about what the beads that were reported to have flaked were made of or coated with). Clear, however, seems to be the easiest to clean/inspect.

Just bought these. I'll post up some pictures or videos when I get them and get to try them out (after the end of this week).

 

[reece]

Those 11/0 seem so small to me. I have size 2/0. Must be genetics. But like they say, it isn't the size of the bead, it's the diffusion of the vapor....Why hasn't someone stopped me yet?

I loaded them in my downstem and I think I like it better. Very smooth hit. The "chug" seems to be quieted but I'll have to check again without beads to be sure. Definitely no sound of beads. I also like the look. I have three different colored beads and they look nice in the downstem. Almost like I have one o' dem fancy city feller downstems.

 

[Progress]

Aero, I look foreword to hearing about your experience.

Reece, the possibilities are endless for sizes and shapes. Smaller beads diffuse more when packed tightly, but create more drag as well. Be creative. Smaller seed beads also move more when they are loose. You can use tiny beads with larger beads or shapes submerged in them, so the vapor blasts through filters of beads to the spaces around the larger ones (minimizing drag, but creating the foam of an exploding 2 liter Cola as it escapes the top layer of 11/0's, OR any other of the infinite combinations you can think of ).

However, I guess that a chart like this one could be helpful:

http://www.landofodds.com/store/seedsize.htm

The links I post are mostly random links I find related to what we are talking about (not necessarily links I support or have used). Your best bet, IMO, is to use them (and the ideas I share) as jumping off points and search a bit (please share what you find too).

I have shared some ideas for different ways that beads can be arranged to create different degrees of diffusion, action, drag,...in this thread and others (before there was enough interest for this thread to be created).

Toke it easy (and full of seed beads).

 

[rabican]

[url]http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/1300/setup2a.jpg[/url]

-w-

Do the beads help?

 

[rabican]

People have asked about recommended seed beads, so here it is (my recommendation): http://www.overstock.com/Jewelry-Wa...-of-4000/3438005/product.html?cid=143688&fp=F (others should be fine as well )

Also, clear or colored beads should be fine, Whosgottheherb (I am still not sure about what the beads that were reported to have flaked were made of or coated with). Clear, however, seems to be the easiest to clean/inspect.

Just bought these. I'll post up some pictures or videos when I get them and get to try them out (after the end of this week).

Any updated? how do they work?

 

[Progress]

Yes, Rabican. Seed beads DO indeed work very well (at least IMO). Just read some of the posts in the thread, or bite the $10 bullet to buy some and try them yourself.

However, I too would love to hear some feedback from aero 18 about the beads he ordered and any thoughts from Dr Mephisto (or from anyone else for that matter ).

Thanks for sharing your interest in this affordable and extremely effective alternative means of experiencing the level of diffusion that many seek to obtain (and pay quite a bit for).

PS: Rather than posting two back-to-back posts, you can use the edit feature to add to your previous post when no one else has posted since then ().

 

[MichMartin]

I have a roor and I bought a diffuser from roor as well cause I thought it was the shit.
But now I tried the 2mm micro glass marbles from blockheadstmps(recommended!) and I can not believe it.
I've had them in the drawer for 3-4 months cause I didn't think they were as good as people say. They are.



It's just so smooth. So Smooth.

 

[Progress]

Someone mentioned in another thread that they were having trouble finding borosilicate seed beads.

It may be very hard or impossible to find borosilicate seed beads (please correct me if I am wrong), but soft glass beads should be fine (especially if you follow the cleaning recommendations I made in a previous post of this thread).

Hope this helps.

 

[Pappy]

Has anyone had experience with this source? It appears diffuser beads are their one and only product.
http://www.Stonesdiffusion.com/

 

[Nycdeisel]

Honestly, pappy, I have seen a few "specialty" beads/marbles like that, and going for like $15 a bag, its a damn rip off. I went to a local arts and crafts store and picked up a few bags of clear glass marbles for a dollar or 2 each bag. Its literally the same exact stuff. I saw the same bag of beads labeled ROOR going for at least $10 maybe more!

I like diffuser beads usually, but if I have a diffused downstem I would rather use that since its neater IMO.

EDIT: the Stones beads seem slightly larger then my no name beads

 

[DeepFried]

Yeah Pappy those are way too big in diameter, read back a few pages and you'll see reports of them breaking down stems and not fitting past some ice pinches.

 

[Pappy]

^ read thru thread but didn't see a mention of them.

 

[Nycdeisel]

Even mine sometimes dont fit past ice pinches. Pain in the ass if it has a downstem too.

 

[DeepFried]

Pappy from post #2 in this thread

I use then as well. I use quite large ones but they're still light enough to bounce around. I puchaced Them from stonesdiffusion.com. These were so large that they won't even fit though my ice pinches.

from post #26 in this thread

I took my beads out . I ended up putting in to many and when i was putting in my diffy the beads broke it. I wasn't pushing very hard but I guess it was hard enough.

 

[SmokingElectricity]

i did this to a bong about 4 years ago when i was still combusting. used fish tank gravel. works really well and you can find some cool colors, shapes etc at pet stores. but it got to be a pain in the ass when i wanted to change the water and then i broke my downstem and i gave up on them. worked good though.

 

[Progress]

In regards to the risk of breaking a downstem, there is a way to guarantee the prevention of this.

First, use beads that are small enough. I prefer between 10/0 and 12/0, which is a count of how many beads would be an inch long when strung in a row. (A chart like this can be helpful http://www.landofodds.com/store/seedsize.htm and they are likely to look something like this http://www.overstock.com/Jewelry-Wa...-52C1-DF11-98FF-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA). The holes in the center and the size of them allow for safe movement of the beads, enhancing the diffusion greatly.

Secondly, only fill the piece (or precooler) with an amount of seeds that can safely shuffle around in the water as you slide the diffy in (of course, they can also be carefully added through the mouthpiece or in piecemeal through the downstem itself). It is however helpful if the base of the downstem and any diffuser slits/holes are submerged in beads (but not necessary).

More beads or larger ones can definitely be used as well, but this is the guaranteed safe way (although I am sure one can even break a downstem with no beads in it at all, of course).

I hope this helps.

note: Fish tank gravel would likely work very well, but I am not sure how clean it is to begin with or how easy it would be to clean.

 

[Nycdeisel]

Stick to clear glass if you can. I once bought some bags of glass marbles and got some colored ones, when I attempted to clean them, the paint flaked off

 

[aero18]

People have asked about recommended seed beads, so here it is (my recommendation): http://www.overstock.com/Jewelry-Wa...-of-4000/3438005/product.html?cid=143688&fp=F (others should be fine as well )

Also, clear or colored beads should be fine, Whosgottheherb (I am still not sure about what the beads that were reported to have flaked were made of or coated with). Clear, however, seems to be the easiest to clean/inspect.

Just bought these. I'll post up some pictures or videos when I get them and get to try them out (after the end of this week).

Any updated? how do they work?

A rather late update, but I ended up not using them. I didn't want to scratch my glass so I opted for diffused showerhead downstems instead.

 

[Progress]

You never even tried them once?

Rounded soft glass beads scratching annealed borosilicate?...

Not even willing to risk it in that 100ml Ehle, Aero?

Thanks for the follow up, though.

 

[Pappy]

A rather late update, but I ended up not using them. I didn't want to scratch my glass so I opted for diffused showerhead downstems instead.

Welcome to the 21st century. I used to rub two sticks together when I combusted.

 

[Progress]

Pippy - Welcome to the 21st century. I used to rub two sticks together when I combusted.

I wouldn't call showerhead diffys antiquated just because the idea of using beads for better and cheaper diffusion was introduced here more recently.

What does that comment even contribute to this thread?

Anyhow, I am posting to see if anyone is interested in taking the plunge and posting a video to show everyone what they are missing...

edit:

Poppy - I didn't call showerheads antiquated. Quite the contrary. Having read through this entire thread I came to the same conclusion as Aero. My various tubes and downstems provide sufficiently satisfactory diffusion. Why should I waste my time trying to improve a wheel I know works perfectly to begin with? I researched it and pass.

My questions are why did you go to diffusion when non diffused sufficed for so long?; Why switch from smoking to vaporizing when it worked so well? and do you realize that your comments could easily be taken as 'flaming'? The wheel has evolved over the years, my friend. Please either contribute something about beads in this thread (not just that you never tried them because you are happy with your set-up)

 

[Pappy]

wouldn't call showerhead diffys antiquated just because the idea of using beads for better and cheaper diffusion was introduced here more recently.
What does that comment even contribute to this thread?

I didn't call showerheads antiquated. Quite the contrary. Having read through this entire thread I came to the same conclusion as Aero. My various tubes and downstems provide sufficiently satisfactory diffusion. Why should I waste my time trying to improve a wheel I know works perfectly to begin with? I researched it and pass.

 

[reece]

Adding beads to my diffused downstem improved performance. What do you lose by trying?

 

[2clicker]

i gotta say im interested

not sure why, but the idea of improving my beaker with beads does sound appealing

i would at least like to try it

here is a link to some borosilicate glass spheres
http://www.mcmaster.com/#glass/=9u6o1c