'The Misty Log' - DIY wooden Log Vaporizer

[brainiac]

Hi Bloke
You certainly have been making creative use of your time. With that modular arrangement you've got just about all the heater cover types covered, plus the DV, and it caters for people who might want bigger or smaller load sizes. Keep up the good work. Those Mistys look great btw, and it's nice to see that Rustic body being put to good use


@darkstar72 - I'm happy to accept praise from wherever I can get it but I'm guessing you meant to tag @blokenoname

 

[blokenoname]

Evening!

Did I post about this little bugger before!?

Was looking into what vape to take to the Christmas parties on the horizon.... and wondered, that I obviously really did a stem for the Splinter, Daniel gave me back then
Even me long term memory isn't, what it was!
Cut it from a 20mm birch dowel and brutalized it with the band sander to the rough resemblance of an 18mm taper it seems! What precision I couldn't accomplish with the band sander back then, a couple of o-rings are fixing now.
It's wooden bowl can hold either a ~11mm domed, rimless Airizer screen for the big loads... or an 8mm standard Log Vape ss tip for micro dosing
As it's through hole was of an 8mm diameter already, I just added a glass liner to it.





Macro dosing!

Micro Dosing!

Glass liner!


I'll do another post on the different tip sizes for most of the commercially & contemporary Log Vapes available soon, and also on my more modular approach to stems/WPAs.

 

[brainiac]

@blokenoname marvelously inventive and I'm looking forward to that post on the various stem tip sizes with your modular solutions.

Here's something different. I actually have Rasta Buddah Tao's Driftwood to thank for this idea. It's different in several key ways but it got me thinking about the Rustic possibilities and this is what I came up with.

Here it is freshly debarked. Note the fourth leg (second from left) which had denatured to a poor condition and had to go. On the right it's got it's body and legs trimmed and been drilled out. The log next to it for scale is a Rustic holly 11cm tall. The Rustic Tripod Log (RTL - working title) towers over it at over 23cm/9".

​

This is the finished piece. Sanded down, heat source installed - infra red halogen - and leather pads on the feet. Straight through jack connector is actually simpler to do than the usual side jack on a log.

​

Difficult to show this to it's best effect but here's a few stills run together. Note the symbolic stump where the fourth leg was.

Tbh it's not the most practical vape you'll ever come across. The central feature of log vapes is their functional simplicity. The RTL would easily topple a bubbler unless hand held. Plus, with a dd stem, you first have to decide how to pick the thing up - the body or a leg, if leg which one ?

Anyway, it presented several novel problems requiring equally novel solutions so it was great fun to make. It'll get wheeled out on special occasions and look good on a shelf in the meantime.

Good logging, all.

 

[blokenoname]

So... that raises the question then: Do Ents enjoy electrical Log Vapes

Mate! That Rustic IR Halo Tripod just looks stunning!
I've to get me some of these IR halo bulbs soon, to test them out in my Mistys
And you're perfectly right there: it's no rocket science (hot rod within a metal/glass/ceramic tube + a heat shield ), to build a well functioning Log Vape, that easily outperforms most of the contemporary, factory built & circuit driven plastic bombers on the market. Once you've the fundamental physics/principals down, the real fun is in creating suitable bodies & accessories, to serve your heater design then

Wish you all a merry' & (hopefully) satisfactory baked Christmas, BTW
(It's Christmas! So more clutter (stems/WPAs) on the vaping station is allowed )



I've to say... the 9mm/12mm ID/OD glass bowls really perform quite well on the new heater cover so far... and without any need to raise the temps in comparison to using the ss slip over or Dynavap tips. Having the heater closer to the load here in addition to the quite snug fitting glass makes all the difference!
The 10mm DIY tip (stem to the left) now got a custom made 8mm flat screen in the herb chamber. Leaves more space for the load!

Other things to do when bored on Christmas Eve:
Have fun & games with leftover Dynavap parts!

Take original Vapcap M body; throw short condenser out; turn upside down; insert 2nd generation Dynavap ss tip into original M's mouthpiece; stuff in redundant NonaVong (as it has a DIY glass liner now) condenser with wooden mouthpiece from the other end... have very cool looking, very functional & overlong ss Vapcap with nice swiveling mouthpiece



upload net

 

[blokenoname]

Well... there's nothing revolutionary to my more modular approach with stems/mouthpieces/roasting-tubes (or whatever you call it)
It's foremost just the idea, to reduce clutter on the table and minimize the amount of stems/WPAs that need cleaning afterwards

I mean, most of the US based Log builders offer at least two different sized cores now (for the bigger & lesser hunger, so to say ):

Dave's UD @underdog now comes with...
SC3/SC3+ core, that uses the traditional OD 3/8" (9,5mm) tube, that accepts 5/16" or 8mm ss tips into the core and 13mm/10mm OD/ID glass going over the core (which is simply the backend/tube of any 14mm ground glass lab glass joint).
The Alpha/Alpha + core is using 1/2" OD tubing (12.7mm) and accepts 0.455" (11.5mm) ss tips into the core.
Then there is the AXL, which apparently accepts the 10mm OD Dynavap tips.

Alan's @Alan HeatIsland/HI now comes with...
Either the traditional core, that uses the OD 3/8" (9,5mm) tube, that accepts 5/16" or 8mm ss tips into the core and 13mm/10mm OD/ID glass going over the core.
Or a larger OD 7/16" (11.1mm) core, that'll either accept 3/8" (9.5mm) ss tips into the core, or (if he drilled the ID of the 7/16" tube out to 10mm at the top, will then accept the 10mm Dynavap tips. The OD 7/16" core also allows the glass stems & GonGs from the Arizer Air/Solo to slip over the core. It's a neat fit.

Andy's E-Nano (and it's latest iteration) seem to use the classic OD 3/8" tube for a core, machined down a bit at the top, to provide a better fit (and a stop) for the custom made glass stems/GonGs, which fit the 9.5mm OD of the core a bit more snug and are also made from thicker glass, than the standard 10mm/13mm lab glass tubing.
Regarding the Nano XL, I can only come up with guess work re it's core tubing, from the look of it. As it's custom made glass stems accept the rimmed Arizer Elbow screens at the top, it'll probably be no larger, than a 10mm OD

This here are my own two main core sizes, before I added my new stepped 8mm/9mm heater cover, you find on the page before this one.
Left is the wider 11mm/10mm OD/ID core, which can hold either a 10W halo ; a 7.5W or a 10W heater cartridge and will accept 10mm Dynavap or DIY ss & glass tips to slip into the core and the Arizer Air/Solo glass for slipping over.
Right is the 3/8" (9.5mm) standard core, which comes with a 7.5W cartridge or a 95J ceramic resistor for a heater and accepts 5/16" or 8mm ss tips... and the lab glass.


kostenlose foto app

What I like very much with the self turned stems is the approach, to roll several use cases into one stem/WonG. Doesn't need to be a one size fits all solution, which is a bit over the top me thinks, but having (for instance) a relatively slender and rather shortish dd stem, that doubles as a 14mm or 18mm WPA, like Ed's dd stem for his Woodscents or like @Alan does some of his custom roasting -tubes, I really find aesthetically & functionally pleasing .
As this is a bit hard to accomplish w/out a lathe (only have a band sander right now and getting the angle for the tapered joint exactly right, remains a PITA of trial & error there ), I basically tried to imitate that design with my old, battered & lengthened & glass lined Dynavap NonaVong body, which terminates in a 14mm WonG joint and also with my short bamboo stem with the 14mm ground glass joint attached (found a 7,5 cm to 8 cm length for such a combo stem (sans tip) quite pleasing there). Vapor is cooled enough for direct draw -due to the glass liner, I guess-, while still providing enough stability, for its use with a bong.

Ed's TNT:


Some of Alan's custom roasting tubes with 18mm WonG end:


My own modified NonaVong body with 8mm ss tip:


Also got a nice combo stem from a Dreamwood Roasty butane vape (originally comes with an 8mm dimpled glass bowl), that wasn't too expensive, doubles as a 14mm WonG and comes with an 8mm countersink. It now takes one of my new 10mm OD ss DIY tips, that go over my new 8mm/9mm heater cover


(I quite like the telescopic design, I came up with there. The 9mm chamber itself is cut from tubing with a 0.5mm wall to add stability, while the 8mm backend and the 10mm outer sleeve both use the tubing with a 0.3mm wall, which keeps it lightweight and will slip over the HC without friction, so that it won't become stuck.
It sits very stable on the HC, while also having a clear defined herb chamber that shows you, up to which height you can fill up the tip without blocking it from slipping over the cover.)





Anyway... The combo approach reduces the clutter on your table top (or wood stand) considerably, I find
One reason I got for the more modular approach there... is that after 3 years or so, I'm now drowning in all the DIY stems/WPAs I made, mostly copying the other Logs at fist. By now, I have a whole bag full of them and most of them get never used .
And when I use them, the table fills up with clutter fast! I mean... look at the classic 3/8" core! You usually get a dd stem and and a 14mm and an 18mm WPA for the 8mm steel tips; then comes the 13/10mm lab-glass dd stem and last but not least, a 14mm and an 18mm GonG adapter. Makes 6 pieces all in all, rolling around on your table! Then I decide to get another Misty out, with my larger 11mm heater cover..
and out comes the fitting Airizer Air/Solo glass and the Dynavaps. And then there is the 12/9mm glass now for the new core and the DIY 10mm ss tip
By now... I've about 10 to 15 pieces to clean up




So we have (l to r) 8mm ss tip; 10mm Dynavap tip; 10mm DIY ss tip, which goes into the 11mm core and over the new9mm/8mm core with the heater sitting higher up in the core); a 12/9mm glass tip to go over the 9mm part of the new core; a 13/10mm glass tip that goes over 3/8" (9,5mm) standard core... and of course one of @brainiac 's very own & very first plum WonG adapters, to provide an 18mm fit to the glass and which I shortened a bit, at the bottom end, to make it a bit more compact, given the length of the Dynavap, glass and DIY 10mm ss tip

So with the wider variety of core sizes, it's a more economic solution, to concentrate on maybe a single handful of nicely looking stems/adapters, that can take just any sized tip you throw at it, as long as it has an 8mm backend

And yes, it's all held together by simply friction fit. As long, as you don't take the glass liners out of the surrounding 12mm/8mm bamboo tubing ten times a day (for cleaning an iso soaked pipe cleaner will do the job perfectly well), a little bit of electrical tape around the middle of the glass liner will keep it nicely in place within the bamboo or wood tube... because glass tolerances
The boro straws are not lab glass, so the actual OD varies from piece to piece. Some will fit nice and snuggly on its own, some are just too fat, to get them in... and some will only fit loosely or even fall right through; for the latter I use the electrical tape then.
Bit more difficult is the fastening of a glass liner inside the 10mm ID of a 14mm gg joint GonG end, as you'll need some very thin 10/8mm silicone tubing for that and it's considerably harder, adjusting for too fat or too thin glass straws there. Either it doesn't fit snugly and the liner becomes loose to easily... or it'll break the glass, if the glass straw is to fat and you try pushing it in too hard.
But the really nice thing is, that the inner glass liner now serves as a means, to fit the different materials of a stem together via a friction fit around it

So... that's tonight's setup BTW...

 

[yeswecann]

Well... there's nothing revolutionary to my more modular approach with stems/mouthpieces/roasting-tubes (or whatever you call it)
It's foremost just the idea, to reduce clutter on the table and minimize the amount of stems/WPAs that need cleaning afterwards

I mean, most of the US based Log builders offer at least two different sized cores now (for the bigger & lesser hunger, so to say ):

Dave's UD @underdog now comes with...
SC3/SC3+ core, that uses the traditional OD 3/8" (9,5mm) tube, that accepts 5/16" or 8mm ss tips into the core and 13mm/10mm OD/ID glass going over the core (which is simply the backend/tube of any 14mm ground glass lab glass joint).
The Alpha/Alpha + core is using 1/2" OD tubing (12.7mm) and accepts 0.455" (11.5mm) ss tips into the core.
Then there is the AXL, which apparently accepts the 10mm OD Dynavap tips.

Alan's @Alan HeatIsland/HI now comes with...
Either the traditional core, that uses the OD 3/8" (9,5mm) tube, that accepts 5/16" or 8mm ss tips into the core and 13mm/10mm OD/ID glass going over the core.
Or a larger OD 7/16" (11.1mm) core, that'll either accept 3/8" (9.5mm) ss tips into the core, or (if he drilled the ID of the 7/16" tube out to 10mm at the top, will then accept the 10mm Dynavap tips. The OD 7/16" core also allows the glass stems & GonGs from the Arizer Air/Solo to slip over the core. It's a neat fit.

Andy's E-Nano (and it's latest iteration) seem to use the classic OD 3/8" tube for a core, machined down a bit at the top, to provide a better fit (and a stop) for the custom made glass stems/GonGs, which fit the 9.5mm OD of the core a bit more snug and are also made from thicker glass, than the standard 10mm/13mm lab glass tubing.
Regarding the Nano XL, I can only come up with guess work re it's core tubing, from the look of it. As it's custom made glass stems accept the rimmed Arizer Elbow screens at the top, it'll probably be no larger, than a 10mm OD

This here are my own two main core sizes, before I added my new stepped 8mm/9mm heater cover, you find on the page before this one.
Left is the wider 11mm/10mm OD/ID core, which can hold either a 10W halo ; a 7.5W or a 10W heater cartridge and will accept 10mm Dynavap or DIY ss & glass tips to slip into the core and the Arizer Air/Solo glass for slipping over.
Right is the 3/8" (9.5mm) standard core, which comes with a 7.5W cartridge or a 95J ceramic resistor for a heater and accepts 5/16" or 8mm ss tips... and the lab glass.


kostenlose foto app

What I like very much with the self turned stems is the approach, to roll several use cases into one stem/WonG. Doesn't need to be a one size fits all solution, which is a bit over the top me thinks, but having (for instance) a relatively slender and rather shortish dd stem, that doubles as a 14mm or 18mm WPA, like Ed's dd stem for his Woodscents or like @Alan does some of his custom roasting -tubes, I really find aesthetically & functionally pleasing .
As this is a bit hard to accomplish w/out a lathe (only have a band sander right now and getting the angle for the tapered joint exactly right, remains a PITA of trial & error there ), I basically tried to imitate that design with my old, battered & lengthened & glass lined Dynavap NonaVong body, which terminates in a 14mm WonG joint and also with my short bamboo stem with the 14mm ground glass joint attached (found a 7,5 cm to 8 cm length for such a combo stem (sans tip) quite pleasing there). Vapor is cooled enough for direct draw -due to the glass liner, I guess-, while still providing enough stability, for its use with a bong.

Ed's TNT:


Some of Alan's custom roasting tubes with 18mm WonG end:


My own modified NonaVong body with 8mm ss tip:


Also got a nice combo stem from a Dreamwood Roasty butane vape (originally comes with an 8mm dimpled glass bowl), that wasn't too expensive, doubles as a 14mm WonG and comes with an 8mm countersink. It now takes one of my new 10mm OD ss DIY tips, that go over my new 8mm/9mm heater cover


(I quite like the telescopic design, I came up with there. The 9mm chamber itself is cut from tubing with a 0.5mm wall to add stability, while the 8mm backend and the 10mm outer sleeve both use the tubing with a 0.3mm wall, which keeps it lightweight and will slip over the HC without friction, so that it won't become stuck.
It sits very stable on the HC, while also having a clear defined herb chamber that shows you, up to which height you can fill up the tip without blocking it from slipping over the cover.)





Anyway... The combo approach reduces the clutter on your table top (or wood stand) considerably, I find
One reason I got for the more modular approach there... is that after 3 years or so, I'm now drowning in all the DIY stems/WPAs I made, mostly copying the other Logs at fist. By now, I have a whole bag full of them and most of them get never used .
And when I use them, the table fills up with clutter fast! I mean... look at the classic 3/8" core! You usually get a dd stem and and a 14mm and an 18mm WPA for the 8mm steel tips; then comes the 13/10mm lab-glass dd stem and last but not least, a 14mm and an 18mm GonG adapter. Makes 6 pieces all in all, rolling around on your table! Then I decide to get another Misty out, with my larger 11mm heater cover..
and out comes the fitting Airizer Air/Solo glass and the Dynavaps. And then there is the 12/9mm glass now for the new core and the DIY 10mm ss tip
By now... I've about 10 to 15 pieces to clean up




So we have (l to r) 8mm ss tip; 10mm Dynavap tip; 10mm DIY ss tip, which goes into the 11mm core and over the new9mm/8mm core with the heater sitting higher up in the core); a 12/9mm glass tip to go over the 9mm part of the new core; a 13/10mm glass tip that goes over 3/8" (9,5mm) standard core... and of course one of @brainiac 's very own & very first plum WonG adapters, to provide an 18mm fit to the glass and which I shortened a bit, at the bottom end, to make it a bit more compact, given the length of the Dynavap, glass and DIY 10mm ss tip

So with the wider variety of core sizes, it's a more economic solution, to concentrate on maybe a single handful of nicely looking stems/adapters, that can take just any sized tip you throw at it, as long as it has an 8mm backend

And yes, it's all held together by simply friction fit. As long, as you don't take the glass liners out of the surrounding 12mm/8mm bamboo tubing ten times a day (for cleaning an iso soaked pipe cleaner will do the job perfectly well), a little bit of electrical tape around the middle of the glass liner will keep it nicely in place within the bamboo or wood tube... because glass tolerances
The boro straws are not lab glass, so the actual OD varies from piece to piece. Some will fit nice and snuggly on its own, some are just too fat, to get them in... and some will only fit loosely or even fall right through; for the latter I use the electrical tape then.
Bit more difficult is the fastening of a glass liner inside the 10mm ID of a 14mm gg joint GonG end, as you'll need some very thin 10/8mm silicone tubing for that and it's considerably harder, adjusting for too fat or too thin glass straws there. Either it doesn't fit snugly and the liner becomes loose to easily... or it'll break the glass, if the glass straw is to fat and you try pushing it in too hard.
But the really nice thing is, that the inner glass liner now serves as a means, to fit the different materials of a stem together via a friction fit around it

So... that's tonight's setup BTW...

I learned so much reading that that my brain feels good.

 

[blokenoname]

So... inspired by @Alan 's recent GTR, I wanted to try out, if I can make his concept of 'producing more heat with less wattage' work also for my Misty Log
I mean, I've powered cores with an 18mm male glass joint before, using either a 20W halo bulb or a larger & more powerful 20W heater cartridge... but making it sing with just the small 7.5W cartridge and some expansion of its surface area sounded like an interesting challenge

So i took an old maple Misty with the 7.5W cartridge heater and a 10mm glass heater cover and cork base already installed; threw the 10mm glass tube out and widened the hole in the cork base, to accommodate the wider backend of the 18mm male joint tube. For a lack of enough large ss screens to form the fins from, which Alan stacked onto his cartridge heater in the GTR to enlarge the heater surface, I simply wrapped the cartridge in several layers of ss fine mesh, till it filled up the joint. Not so sophisticated as the fins, but it surely works out fine enough already
Lined the heater well with some 0.1mm ss foil to deflect heat from the wood. Bottom got plugged up with a fitting cork. Air intake works via the hole in the cork.



Used a piece of 12mm OD ss tubing with a domed screen for the tip of the direct draw stem, as this fits into the top of the 18mm joint nearly perfectly (it's actually the herb chamber of some old plastic bomber vape, I've no longer in use, I think). Works perfectly fine and you can get good hits with only 10.5V to 11V applied already





The 14/18mm coupling I intended to use as the larger 18mm female WPA bowl there proved a bit more tricky, as it's wide midsection nearly gobbles up .5g already, to just cover the screen with enough herb, to produce some satisfying vapor... which seems a bit wasteful! A longer and more narrow bowl (like the Herborizer Ti micro dosing bowl) would work better there! But sadly, that has too wide a rim at the top of its 18mm female, to fit into the heater well of this particular Log body (have to make that larger for my next attempt). So the WPA with the wide midsection is the only one at hand for now, that comfortably clears the heater well!
Alleviated that by creating a little ss herb chamber, that gets inserted into the 18mm female and has the right length to seal with the 18mm male heater port of the Misty, when inserted. It's made from the outer ss sleeve of some E-Ciggie RBA, I no longer use and has a length and width of ~14mm. The ID allows a rimmed Arizer elbow screen (like used with the Splinter & co) to be inserted, which takes up roughly 1/2 of the chamber's capacity . For bigger loads, I created a second chamber, where I punched out the bottom of the elbow screen and inserted a DIY basket screen at the bottom of the chamber itself instead. So that one can be filled to full capacity of the chamber now

So with the herb chamber inserted, the wide WPA now milks up the glass just fine!
Still experimenting to find my sweet spot there, somewhere between 11.5V and 12V.

 

[blokenoname]

Leisurely draw at a mere 11.6V/7W with just the Elbow Screen filled within the ss herb chamber (1/2 capacity) & equally leisurely lighting

"It's quite dead , Jim!"... I'd say!

 

[blokenoname]

There! If the bowl don't fit, we makes it fit!

That's more along the lines of what I envisioned to be a fitting GonG adapter/bowl for this type of Log/Injection vape hybrid.
While having a standard 18mm male injector port may be quite convenient, not all adapters with an 18mm socket work equally well for a bowl!
Depends very much on the type of vape/heater you're using there and what works ok for one vape, might not necessarily work so well with another type of heater.



Played around a bit with my new GTR clone here last night and found it to be quite a temperamental little bugger
First dialed it up to 12V to see, if I could milk the glass a bit more... and immediately combusted with the Elbow screen & improvised herb chamber. Dialed it back to 11.6V.... and combusted again
Next I took it more slowly and started up from 11.0V... which produced rather lackluster results through glass.
Gave up for the night and then set out this morning, to cobble together a better fitting GonG adapter/bowl, that suits the heater design better. Cut off the socket from the wide midsection of the original adapter and then simply fastened it (with a piece of silicone) to the backend of another 18mm male joint, the tubing of which I cut at about 1.5cm above the joint (that part of tubing is forming the actual bowl now). Set in a ~12mm basket screen, that rests directly above the 18mm male... and you can also throw in one of the rimmed Arizer Elbow screens again, for smaller loads.




Much better working solution, than the improvised herb chambers, bouncing about in the too large midsection of the original adapter
Getting consistent results now and very good vapor at a mere 11.2V/6.6W dialed in... and no more combustion or lackluster vapor!

Still being impressed with the simple but powerful GTR approach, Alan came up with there

ETA::
Hell ! Now I get it!

Apparently, I was running it much too hot the whole time! More or less dialing it in to the same settings, I use for a steel core Misty
Doesn't work that way, though
About ~11.5V might do for producing some clouds half an hour or an hour, after you plugged the unit in.... but let it sit for a few hours and really heat-soak, it'll get much too hot with that voltage setting and might easily combust your load, when you're taking your next hit!
Once it's heat soaked, dialing the voltage down to ~10V - 10.5V will do nicely! (... and which is also consistent with the voltage settings, folks in the GTR thread are mentioning).

That's why I was a happy vaper in the morning... and combusted in the evening

 

[blokenoname]

Well... as that's sorted out now and everything works hunky dory ... guess, what I'll be trying next

Here's another maple Misty with a 10mm glass heater cover, a cork base and the 7.5W cartridge already installed... but didn't get used so much, as I usually prefer steel tips .

It's also the first unit, where I tried out a bit larger Forstner bit of 26mm for the heater well to alleviate problems that can occur with the actual size of some nominal 25mm ss washers. So the heater well is also large enough to accommodate another one of my 19/26mm female socket.adapters with a wider rim.
It's body should be narrow enough to make for a nice female 19mm socket heater cover, once I've cut off the 14mm joint at the bottom.

For stems/WPAs... I simply use my existing Splinter stems! So no fiddling around there

Will keep you posted, how it's coming along...



Update:
Well... so far, so simple



Update 2: There!

Now let's fire the little bugger up and see, what's what!
Ah... the scent of freshly burned in stainless steel mesh

 

[blokenoname]

In other News:
From the ever growing pile of 'No idea WTF this is or when that might come in handy, but looks interesting, so let's keep it anyway', I just accidentally created an universal backend for anything, that ends in ~12mm ID glass tubing, turning an 19mm male adapter or the Splinter stem into a longer dd stem or 14mm GonG (SonG!? ) adapter, by adding just a bit of left over silicone tubing
It's actually a cut off 12mm male joint from some of all the glass stuff, that came with the Arizer tower, that was my very first desktop vape. Backend is ~10mm OD tubing, so that a slim bit of silicone makes it fit into ~12mm ID tubing and widens the 12mm joint section to 14mm.
Makes for some funny looking dd glass stems & 14mm adapters




From the same pile comes a broken and cut off piece of 19mm male joint, the joint proper of which is about only 13mm long now. That shows, how short the joint of Alan's original male 19mm GTR version actually is now!
That leaves a full 13mm (i.e. 1/2) of the length of a standard 19/26mm female joint adapter for use as a bowl now!

I'll go with a shortened joint of 18mm for now, leaving half that space (8mm depth/17mm width) for a bowl. That still takes a couple of Vapcap tips full or 2-3 Arizer Elbow screens, to fill it up! More than enough, for my appetite

Roughly the length of Alan's male joint of his 19mm glass heater cover for his original male GTR:


My own version at 18mm joint length now! 10mm screen for size comparison.


My own DIY Misty Male 19mm GTR clone with reinstalled & shortened heater cover and modified GonG adapter bowl, now with the 17mm flat screen at its bottom.

 

[blokenoname]

Without so many words... 14mm Male Core GTR clone in a Rustic @brainiac body

 

[blokenoname]

Well... quite satisfactory for a week's work
Guess I'll call them 'The Good', 'The Baaaad' and the 'JFC what dafuq just happened, after I finished THAT bowl!??'



Though the heater well of @brainiac 's Rustic being quite narrow, it's probably better suited for the 14mm female heater cover version, than the male. So I turned the female stem/WPA into its heater cover and gave it a new 14/19mm male stem

A 10mm OD glass liner holds its basket screen in place (can also moved up and down with that), while the short silicone sleeve at the mouthpiece end holds the glass liner in place & seals in a 14mm female for use with glass
But I guess, there are also 14mm rimmed basket screens that could be used in the joint.

 

[brainiac]

Exceptional creativity there @blokenoname Building one of those is now on my to-do list.

I thought it might be worth briefly revisiting the Tripod log as I seem to have left out a lot of the specifically DIY details. Firstly: find the wood. The blank for this one came from an oak tree branch that parted company with the tree during 2021. Here's the branch with blank indicated and parent tree in the background. Blank in more detail on right.

​

After debarking the blank was carefully trimmed to shape to give the 'body' an upright stance. The next job was drilling the heater well. It wouldn't fit in the standard position under the drill press so I had to reposition the drill head by swiveling it 90 degrees on it's post.

On the right is the IR halogen heater assembly. The bulb holder is ceramic and the wires (not in airpath) are teflon coated to VDE standard. That's a bottle of iso and a cotton cloth for cleaning the bulb prior to installing. What required close attention here was getting the assembly length to match exactly the distance from the connector socket to the bulb's correct position in the heater cover.

Below left has heater assembly installed and awaiting the heater cover. I put in some M3 x 0.5mm washers over the screw guide holes. They add a little extra heat insulation for the wood. Right: heater cover in place.

​

Under that debris screen there's a pad of 6 layers of #400 stainless steel mesh for glare reduction and evening out airflow. The heater cover is also DIY - my least favorite part of the build - but it does mean that they can be tailor-made to fit cartridge/resistor/halogen bulb and various heater well depths.

​

An unflattering picture to finish on with the Tripod sitting on it's head but it shows the jack connector location and the leather pads on the feet.

That might be the last of the Rustics for a while - I got myself a lathe a couple of months ago and I'll post some of my output from that next.
Good logging all.

 

[blokenoname]

Ah! Couldn't help it with this new, stepped heater cover! : How to combine an E-Nano experience (tight fitting, custom made glass) with a Woodscents experience (shoulder, to rest your Dynavap on)
QC on this 9mm ID lab glass is on ID, rather than OD .
Perfect for the 9mm OD heater cover.

 

[blokenoname]

Budget stems/roasting tubes the 2nd:

Improved the stems I made some while ago from some ciggie holders, that you can get for a very civil price via Amazon .

For the longer ones: cut ciggie holder at about 70-80mm length.


Widen existing 7.5mm countersink by simply turning an 8mm drill bit manually in the countersink to mill away the missing 1/2mm, till desired depth for ss tip is reached.

Widen existing minimal through hole (can't push a toothpick through there ) with long, 4mm drill bit & cordless screwdriver. Done in under a minute as you're just following the lead of the existing through hole! Don't even bother using the drill press for that! Much simpler and more easy going this way.


Sand down, wax, polish and push a small, unobtrusive o-ring from the base of the stem up to the first groove. That's all that's needed, to make it seal in any 14mm female joint

 

[blokenoname]

Sigh

Guess, some bodies have to be declared 'dead' eventually
This one has seen so many different heater covers/cores over the years, it's midsection literally fell out (might be still fit to cary a 18M GTR style glass heater cover, though)



So, I finally had to move over its WS style heater cover and the cartridge to @brainiac s Rustic birch body...

Elongated the center pin of the connector with a piece of wire forming a little sling, to make soldering in the heater a bit easier later, as I have to do the soldering inside the base section with this type of connector.



Brainy already perfectly tapped out the hole 🕳 for the connector



Bee wax makes for a perfect aid, to stick your ss screws to the screwdriver and get the screws going


Heater cover set in...


And now comes my 'favorit' part... soldering in the heater

Edit:

Well, that went smoothly...



Some wax applied & adding a cork plug...



That should suffice for today!
Rest later!

 

[blokenoname]

makes much clouds >> is much good

Load's about 1/3 Vapcap full (with CCD set to 1/2 position and the heater core's shoulder reaching another few mm into the Ti tip) at 6.02W and 11.2V with the 7.5W cartridge. So there's just a few crumbs in there. All nice & evenly roasted dark brown at this setting

Have it running for nearly 24h now and the birch body is merely lukewarm to the touch
Also very lightweight & very nice to the touch/haptic, due to the natural form factor of the twig. Some 'Vapor from the Wood ' ... so to say



Have to do another vid with the larger glass tip/GonG adapter later on... and also have some 9.5mm & 8mm OD grade 1, thin walled Ti tubing on its pace way from , to see how that stuff is workable in comparison to stainless, and if we can maybe shave another Watt from the equation with Ti tubing.
Not very confident though, that I really get what I ordered there, when and if that Ti tubing finally arrives

 

[blokenoname]

Evening

Though VAS more or less stopped with all the Log building... sometimes me thinks, LBS (LogBuilderSyndrome) is far worse (though far less expensive)



Made a companion piece to the birch WS core style Rustic from another birch body, @brainiac sent me a while ago 🛠.
This one has the classic 3/8" ss core; sanded down to 3000 grit & oiled this time, instead of waxed. Brainy put the hole for the DC socket right where a twig branched off. Makes for a nice recessed connector. Love it!
Have to take some more pics, with better lighting conditions, though!


Using a smaller type of DC socket here, which needs an 8mm through hole & 10mm countersink. Also, no tapping needed, as the socket gets just pushed in and is countered with a nut from the inside of the base well (which I initially forgot, when taking the pics).
As the connector isn't threaded in, I can solder it to the heater cartridge outside the body and then simply push the readily soldered heater/socket combo right through the connector hole and up into the heater cover, before countering it with the nut. Much more convenient, than having to do the soldering inside the base section









Off to do some extensive testing

 

[blokenoname]

New Walnut body for the F18 GTR clone Misty (aka the Desktop Splinter)
Cut & drilled out from a 4cm diameter walnut dowel (hight is 10cm), sanded down to 3000 grit, oiled & polished by hand. Bottom cap is maple.

 

[blokenoname]

Oh look ... there's still life in the old & battered Mahogany Sapele body
Re-sanded, freshly waxed & polished and replacing the leather bottom with a simple cork plug, it makes for a much nicer shell for the M18 GTR style heater cover and an even nicer companion to the Walnut F18 (and my Blackwood Splinter,of course)





30mm x 15mm cork base holds the glass securely in place (though for durability of the cork base, the heater cover should be longer and the heater well a bit deeper than this particular body permitted, due to its stubby nature).
Also dispensed with the ss reflector foil for now, to see how much of a difference in performance that makes within the wider and thinner shell.



Rigged up another quick & funny dd stem from a 18/14 GonG adapter and a piece of 12mm glass tubing, to also test this little bugger without water



Some more R&D findings on glass heater covers and how to fasten them within the heater well later on.

 

[blokenoname]

Guess, we do some titanium heater covers today
Looks, like I got, what I ordered (Grade 1 Ti tubing). Weight & color seem right so far.

9.5mm x 0.6mm wall for the covers.
8.0mm x 0.5mm wall for tips.



ETA: That worked out quite well already, for a very first attempt to work with Ti

The first Rustic Misty with a Ti heater cover

 

[blokenoname]

Some notes on working Ti

First rule on Ti working: you primarily want to go really slooooow, with everything you do to it, to prevent overheating! Cutting it with the tube cutter is like going through butter. Nice & easy! Same with filing off the edges from the cutting. Really nice going

But take something fast & rotating to it, like a Dremel diamond cut off disk... and it becomes equally hard to cut as stainless steel! (just look at the rough edges of the air intake slits in the pics above).
Thing is, as the Ti conducts & dissipates heat only badly, heat will concentrate within the area you're working on, starting kind of an internal welding process inside the material that will then harden the surface area right where you apply your tools. It may even 'glue' the workpiece to the surface of your tools & blunt them, while sending chips of material flying, that literally can burst into flames as these are equally bad in dispensing the heat!

So, cutting slits with the Dremel at full speed is a big no no! Cutting slits with a small steel saw and taking some time with it to prevent overheating is the much better solution.
Drilling holes into the tube instead, with a common steel drill bit at low rpm with the drill press is also very easy going (much easier the drilling through stainless).

Grinding down the base of the tube to fit the washer can be done by hand file (but will take some time), but also with a double sander/grinding wheel machine. Just take it easy and don't apply too much pressure and also take a few short pauses in between, to give the Ti a chance to cool down now & then, while you're rotating the tube against the grinding wheel.



Did a 2nd iteration of the WS style Ti core for the birch Rustic today, which came out a lot nicer already

The step for the Dynavap tips is of 4mm length now, providing more stability; instead of the roughly cut slits we have two nicely drilled 5mm holes for the air intake now and I also dispensed with the circlip to rest the 10mm ID glass on, as the limited length of my glass tips provides their own stop anyway




Those little M18 joint whip adapters with the 12mm backend tubing I found on Amazon, turn out to be quite versatile .

a) They can be used for making M18 GTR heater covers, sticing their 12mm backend into a cork base.
b) They are perfect for making dd stems/GonG adapters for the F18 GTR heater covers (and other Splinter/iHeat type vapes using the 18mm female joint for a heater port), by shortening their joint about ~6mm and setting in a rimmed or unrimmed basket screen. So no need to suck on a fat 16mm glass tube there
c) As the ID of their 12mm OD backend tubing is roughly ~8mm, they make really nice glass dd stems & GonG adapters for the WS style heater covers, as they fit perfectly over the 8mm step for the Dynavap tips. Just set a fitting basket screen into the narrow 12mm end
d) They can even hold a Dynavap tip, though the diameter of the DV backend varies a bit, some tips sit more snug than others. But that can be easily solved by simply using fatter o-rings on the DV backend!.




And of course, we can make our own fitting Ti tips now for the WS & standard style heater covers



Is the Ti easier to work than stainless steel!? Hard to say!
In some ways yes; in others no, as it requires a different approach to work the Ti due to its inherent qualities.

Performance wise, I do frankly not see much of a difference to using ss heater covers & tips there though . I'm running the Ti Rustic at the same wattage now (6.15W/11.3V) as with the steel core and it performs absolutely the same! The more limited conduction of the Ti does not seem to make much of a difference at all there, as the Ti tip also heats up rapidly, when you take a draw.
The Ti tips also cool down more rapidly than ss though, which is quite nice and prevents accidentally burns.

Makes the heater covers & tips more lightweight though, and also seems to keep the wood a tiny bit cooler (not that this were a problem with the ss cores, which are also quite lightweight, as it is).
Have some M8 Ti washers on the way (with 16mm & 24mm OD), but as those are thicker than their ss counterparts I'm using here, that also probably won't add much to the equation, me thinks
Also: in comparison to the price of the Ti tubing, those Ti washers are a bit on the expensive side, with nearly € 1.50/piece!

 

[xsteve420]

Sigh

Guess, some bodies have to be declared 'dead' eventually
This one has seen so many different heater covers/cores over the years, it's midsection literally fell out (might be still fit to cary a 18M GTR style glass heater cover, though)

if your going to be changing out the core that much you might want to see if you can find some really small thread inserts.. love all your logs btw really makes me want to order a bunch of heaters and get some hand rails to maKE my own lol..

 

[blokenoname]

Fitted a Maple Misty unit with a 3/8" Ti core for use with the small 5/16"/8mm Ti tips (and 10mm ID glass) now .
After testing out 2 Ti heater covers now in 2 different units (that held an identical heater cartridge and comparable sized & shaped stainless steel cores before) over the WE, me thinks we can roughly assume, that use of an Ti core can shave about 0.5W to 0.8W from the power/heat-output equation, while delivering the same results

Running the Maple Misty below at 5.5W with the Ti core now (stainless core was 6.3W).
The Birch Rustic/Misty with the WS style core (see pics above) is down from 6.15W with the ss core to 5.7W now (still testing out aiming lower with this one).

Staying with my 25mm & 18mm OD M8 ss washers now to fasten the Ti tubes in, as the Ti washers I ordered, are nearly twice as thick as their ss counterparts (~1.0mm vs. 1.6mm for the Ti) and so are twice as hard to work (and 5 times more expensive!) and are probably also conducting roughly the same amount of heat down to the wood, as the flatter ss washers. Not really worth the money & effort!
If you wanna reduce conduction to the base of the heater well, simply use the smaller 18mm OD M8 ss washer there. Going with the 25mm one mostly for aesthetically reasons here!





Top view of the 3/8" Ti core and a 5/16"/8mm Ti tip: