Discontinued The RBT Milaana (unregulated single 18650)

[muunch]

@duckTape hey, here are the wooden stems I currently use

Really like the darker walnut one. I need to work on staining my mi to better match.

They def don't get hot, like the glass ones allowing for bigger rips but I also think it has something to do with the way I pack it. I put a screen in there basket style,then suck material into the basket. Then I put another screen in basket style.


I guess the stainless steel gets hot first and kinda distrubutes the heat through the little bud-cake that I formed. There's little draw resistance like this so you can REALLY rip.

On mobile so don't wanna scroll and switch pages but I was having similar issues with the 420 tophats but I pack them pretty lightly (usually half full or less now) and always make sure that the glass screen of the top hat is resting against the glass screen of the m2m so the air flows thru and not around.

The tophats are nice as a convenient, portable prepack thing but I'm not sure if I'll use them much other than that, especially if i can find a way to use the 18 to 14 m2m without needing tophat.

@Alan definitely interested in bamboo stems. I'd also like to try this silicone+glass thing as a workaround to needing to use my m2m, although my bubbler is a 14mm female

 

[Copacetic]

........
.......two 18350 in series.....
......It could allow to get the same kind of regulation as in the Zion (OKR chip) inside the Milaana form factor...

I remember you (?) discussing this before, but the simpler single 18650 won through.
If a regulated compact RBT vape becomes available there's no way I'll be able to resist.

Even with:

....
.....
But, battery capacity would be on the low side......
......more or less to a 2000mAh cell)

taken into account.

What do others think re' reduced batt' capacity?

 

[Shit Snacks]

It would be hilarious (but almost certainly inadvisable) if RBT made a vape that would only take Grasshopper batteries!

In all seriousness though, wouldn't 18650 remain an essential ingredient ?(only POWA! battery currently available).

To keep this post on topic:
I believe my avatar is Shit Snack's CGI of the 18650 (before it became the Milaana)

You mean @thekarmawhore's CAD

Glad that everyone is enjoying the wooden stems for the Milaana. I have started using a 10mm glass mouthpiece tube connected with a silicone sleeve on my cherry wood Milaana stem. The glass tube slides through the silicone seal to push the screens out and extends for more cooling. I am finding that the vapor is only condensing inside of the glass tube and leaving the wood fairly clean. The silicone allows it to fit into an 18mm fitting for use in water filtration. A hemp fiber filter can also be added to the glass mouthpiece tube for smoother hits. A whip/hose can be connected to the glass mouthpiece for even more cooling.

Found a piece of bamboo that was just the right size to make a long Milaana stem. I can also make them the short length or line them with 13mm glass tubes. I wonder if a bamboo Milaana is possible.

Looking forward to working with Ryan on some projects. Hope it will benefit everyone.

It absolutely will benefit everyone Alan! Again can't tell you how thrilled I am you two have been in talks. Still hoping to pick up some wooden Milaana stems from you soon (and a 14mm one I think too, to use with my MistVape Touch and future 14mm Milaana it seems too)

 

[muunch]

I remember you (?) discussing this before, but the simpler single 18650 won through.
If a regulated compact RBT vape becomes available there's no way I'll be able to resist.

Even with:

taken into account.

What do others think re' reduced batt' capacity?

Would buy still. Not great but also not terrible, especially if heater drew less power, which I assume it may, if it's a smaller model.

 

[ApparentlyStoned]

http://imgur.com/a/B970A. I just accidentally combusted and when I pulled out my stem I heard a pop. A chunk of glass broke off an went flying. It was my last good stem too.

 

[Copacetic]

You mean @thekarmawhore's CAD

YES!
Of course

Thank you, and apologies to @thekarmawhore

 

[beiberhole69]

http://imgur.com/a/B970A. I just accidentally combusted and when I pulled out my stem I heard a pop. A chunk of glass broke off an went flying. It was my last good stem too.

Damn, how the heck does that happen?!

 

[GetLeft]

Not totally dialed in yet but I've had a great week playing around. I've had a couple of massive hits (not fully intentionally), a couple micro combustion episodes (which left like a pin prick sized black spot in the middle of the load - no ash though so borderline combustion), and some of the most intense flavor hits I've had as a vaporist. It's been a blast. Tonight, the second of the two batts I picked up last week was getting weak, but even without big vapor I got great effects. The convection of the 18 mm stem is effective at lower temps. I'm not convinced I want to narrow things down to 14...

@RastaBuddhaTao keep creatin' man. You'll find your sweet spot (if you haven't already ).

 

[muunch]

Someone posted a 2tone walnut/maple Milaana on reddit... Holy... So nice.

I wanted an aspen but man... That walnut looks so nice and would match my stem...

Edit:
Noooo all out of stock. Shouldn't have waited lol.

Oh well. Don't fix what isn't broken?

 

[Shit Snacks]

Someone posted a 2tone walnut/maple Milaana on reddit... Holy... So nice.

I wanted an aspen but man... That walnut looks so nice and would match my stem...

Edit:
Noooo all out of stock. Shouldn't have waited lol.

Oh well. Don't fix what isn't broken?

I think thats just because he's switching to full-time production mode so no more sales until after they're all built since it is too much for him to do both at once all by himself. There should be plenty more walnut (and others) available and even more coming I suspect...

 

[b0]

Someone posted a 2tone walnut/maple Milaana on reddit... Holy... So nice.

I wanted an aspen but man... That walnut looks so nice and would match my stem...

Edit:
Noooo all out of stock. Shouldn't have waited lol.

Oh well. Don't fix what isn't broken?

I have a walnut on my way and after watching that picture I'm even more excited!

 

[duckTape]

@duckTape hey, here are the wooden stems I currently use

Daaamn!! those stems look amazing, now I know what I want for Christmas And I like your double basket technique as well. I always hold my Milaana downwards so that nothing falls into the oven, so it would be chill to have a extra basket under. great tip

 

[muunch]

Thank @Alan for the technique (as well as the sweet sweet stems... Thanks again!)

The good thing is, it's really easy to prepack these wooden stems with that method too.

 

[Bravesst]

My Alan wood stems are my favorite, I have about six. I love my maple (love maple in general). I've been scoping out the site for exotic woods. Been getting into cherry lately (in my shop), so intrigued, but the spalted maple is about as cool as it gets.

I've got my wood shop totally up and running, just completed my first project of the season. My carpenter skills are coming back, and I'm tempted to customize on of my Milaana's, just not sure how yet. Once I order my new unit, one of my current unit is going to get a facelift!

 

[Shit Snacks]

My Alan wood stems are my favorite, I have about six. I love my maple (love maple in general). I've been scoping out the site for exotic woods. Been getting into cherry lately (in my shop), so intrigued, but the spalted maple is about as cool as it gets.

I've got my wood shop totally up and running, just completed my first project of the season. My carpenter skills are coming back, and I'm tempted to customize on of my Milaana's, just not sure how yet. Once I order my new unit, one of my current unit is going to get a facelift!

Nice man! Can't wait to see what you whip up, been missing your posts here!

I think I'll need to get a wooden stem from Alan sooner than later, was using Milaana with someone I met at a party last night and they loved it with the short glass stem, but unfortunately had a classic lip stick incident and it fell to the concrete outside (that stem fit a tad loose even, now tip broke into a nice sharp crown lol, could still be ground down to a super shorty I bet, if only I could) Fortunately I have a few spares, only other one I had with me was the longer narrow wood stem prototype from Ed he had made for Zion, and it worked pretty well for me, but not as good for newbies since it's so narrow of a pathway. So Alan's stems should be ideal, working just like the glass, only indestructible (and gorgeous)

 

[RastaBuddhaTao]

Hey, sorry for the delay in getting back to folks. Just got back from a trip to run the Philadelphia 1/2 marathon.

@ZC, Batch quantities provide sufficient volume to gain consistent quality and efficiencies that are lost with stop start production. This is essential when dealing with low quantities.

The batch of Milaana coming across the drill presses will feed all of 2017's 18 mm manual demand. It's not that Milaana (manual unregulated 18 mm product) is going away. It's just that the next batch, call it Milaana 2 will benefit from all of the expert feedback received from FC. The beauty of "soft tooling" wood is that the cost is minimal compared to "hard tooling" used to produce the plastic parts in most vapes. Due to the large capital investment required for big box vapes, high volumes is required to amortize the tooling. Where larger, more commercial vaporizers need tens of thousands of units to be profitable, RBT can do it with just 100's of units. This works well as I am a Vapor Maker... The joy for me is in creating new vaporizers, not manufacturing them. So, if I can batch Milaana through, get Zion caught up qnd into stocking quantities, I can fund the birth of the next creation. I so enjoyed my talks with Alan, I have thoughts of Milaana 2 (14 mm), Milaana Max (TOD), 510 flower, 510 concentrate, Manual unregulated concentrate, custom designed regulated portable (micro dose)... The list goes on.

The idea is that all of the learning culminates in refined designs. Fail fast and learn quickly and products can be developed at light speed... Then when you are doing 10s of thousands of units it's worth it

So, @Copacetic I agree, Milaana and Zion are the cornerstone of RBT, and FC is to thank for helping make them the best they can be. But I am sure with the learning form these designs the next limited run creation will be even better.

@WakeAndVape the plan is to get ahead on Milaana and Zion by limiting sales. This will also allow for faster response on warranty and customer service.

@btka thanks for the thoughtful advice. Although @RBTMarketing has limited time, his marketing consulting has been very helpful. The typical sales model is a vape is manufactured for $50 in high volume, heavy marketing and promotion is added and the price to the big box retailer is $125. The retailer doubles his cost and sells the vaporizer for $269. This model prevents RBT from being in head shops given that there isn't margin to allow the retailer to double there money and the marketing budget isn't there to drive sales for the retailer.

One thing that we have discussed is having brand ambassadors who could place a Milaana add in shops giving customers a discount and the brand ambassadors and shop a commission. Again, this is even hard given the margin squeeze.... Luckily for me my retailers are in it for the plant and not the profit. They believe that RBT will reach mainstream with there help and I will remain loyal to them as my top tier suppliers as we grow. If volume out paces demand we will look for key shops in Europe and @VegNVape and I have talked about him working to expand into the UK as our first stop. But, with the new batch mentality we should be able to survive by being FCs personal vapor maker and limited Retailers like Vaped, Planet Vape and 420EDC.

Thanks again to everyone for helping RBT navigate starting up. The transition from RBT labs, to setting up a factory, full circle back to RBT labs was a wild ride. RBT has really started to find it's identity and I believe with the launch of Zion things are going to finally settle down. I just want to order @DDave kit and hang out with you guys.

I apologize for being inaccessible in the past and I will be crazy busy into next year. However I do plan to make a conserved effort to monitor rbtvape.service@gmail for business, rastabuddhatao@gmail for casual comm, and the number on the www is my cell so call or text if you Really need to get ahold of me. I value all of you here on FC and never want to be inaccessible to any of you.

 

[VegNVape]

Killer fucking post, Ryan
Forever forging onwards . . .

 

[ZC]

Thanks RBT for sharing with us what you're thinking and where you're going. Keep at it, you're doing good work.

 

[Copacetic]

Ah! I see now, I misinterpreted the situation and thought you planned to move on from the existing models completely.
Which I would have been sad about, as I really love my Millana!
It's good to hear that the Mi and the Zion will still be around, even when you do move on to developing new models.
The mini Mi, and mini regulated would be particularly interesting to me, but I aslo look forward to your 510 developments too.

I hope you enjoyed the marathon Ryan
Keep making us great vapes! (a marathon of it's own sort I guess)

 

[AJS]

I got VTC5 battery in and it says "danger, do not use outside of battery pack". I looked it up and they say they do that just for liability reasons ... can i still use it in the milaana haha. I don't like anything with the word Danger written on it, especially a battery, eek lol.

 

[waxdab23]

I got VTC5 battery in and it says "danger, do not use outside of battery pack". I looked it up and they say they do that just for liability reasons ... can i still use it in the milaana haha. I don't like anything with the word Danger written on it, especially a battery, eek lol.

Ya, I use VTC5's with my Mi all the time - no issues. I feel like I prefer using the Samsung 25R though.

 

[AJS]

Ya, I use VTC5's with my Mi all the time - no issues. I feel like I prefer using the Samsung 25R though.

Thanks man, just tried it and didn't blow up, yay!

I just sold my OG Milaana to a good friend. He's splitting it with his roommate, so hopefully two combusters are converted with one vape . Sad to see her go though...onwards little OG Mila, onwards.

 

[Vape Dr.]

Big thanks to @Ratchett.

I received a package while I was away this weekend which consisted of a button protector and a few of @Ratchetts guitar pick mods which can be found here:
http://delta3dstudios.com/



My favorite battery block off pick is the glow in the dark one


I wanted to let you all know the button cover works on all generations of the Milaana (I tried 5 units from OG to present) and it fits them all nicely.

I know the size of the Milaana varies a bit from oldest to newest, the button protector fits them all. It has a bit of elasticity to the band which is great.

@Ratchett I bet you could do a few tweaks and be able to use the Milaana with the protector on, you would just have to push a bit harder. I got a few ideas I can toss at you.

Good job my friend!

 

[Delta3DStudios]

Big thanks to @Ratchett.

I received a package while I was away this weekend which consisted of a button protector and a few of @Ratchetts guitar pick mods which can be found here:
http://delta3dstudios.com/



My favorite battery block off pick is the glow in the dark one


I wanted to let you all know the button cover works on all generations of the Milaana (I tried 5 units from OG to present) and it fits them all nicely.

I know the size of the Milaana varies a bit from oldest to newest, the button protector fits them all. It has a bit of elasticity to the band which is great.

@Ratchett I bet you could do a few tweaks and be able to use the Milaana with the protector on, you would just have to push a bit harder. I got a few ideas I can toss at you.

Good job my friend!

Thanks @Vape Dr. for testing out my accessories on your various Milaana models! Due to my extremely limited sample size (one unit), I often need to rely on others to confirm it fits hand crafted vapes like this.

I'm closing up the studio for a few days (Home for the Holidays), but by all means feel free to PM me some ideas!!

@Ratchett I bet you could do a few tweaks and be able to use the Milaana with the protector on

It's funny, some of my earlier prototypes were flexible enough you could press the button. But I wasn't happy with the design. I was trying to ensure there's no possible way to press the button! Hahah

 

[RastaBuddhaTao]

@Ratchett you have my VAS a glow!

So, all ya faithful RBT customers. @RBTMarketing and I have been discussing things we could do to say thanks for your support, faith and patience getting started.

The first is a no Brainer... A mailing list that will give you exclusive offers and first rights to future developments. In future projects we injecting fresh blood into the beta test teams to add focus talents. One crazy idea we had was to offer an FC crowd fund (if approved by FC) that would take a commitment of orders with a small deposit and based on the number sold perks and price drops would be offered. We also plan to do a Pimp your Milaana contest as well as a Custom Blown accessory contest to get things hopping on Instagram.

So what would you all want to see in a brand embassy or program. @Shit Snacks seems to think that money talks and talk is cheap but what amount of free stuff, cash or perks would get you motivated to rep RBT in a region of the US or the world? What contest would you like to see @VegNVape do next? What fun cool ideas do you all want to see implemented? That's the cool thing about building grass roots like this... We can just go where the RBT spirit takes us.

Well I'm off to answer emails and web forms and tend to a warranty return.