The Toad from Morwood

gordontreeman

Everythings coming up Milhouse!
@Vehmic, I definitely need to catch up on those anime... thanks for posting!

On the Toad front, I had a hiccup with the paper I wanted to use for making the shells. I originally used washi from the Awagami factory in Japan, which worked wonderfully..... but has since become more difficult and costly to get because of COVID Japan-Canada shipping restrictions. I switched to another washi that I thought would be practically identical, apart form being easier to order from within Canada. Well, it was definitely not the same. Although it was listed as "unsized", it was actually sized. Sizing is a term used in the paper industry for a process of coating or impregnating a paper with a "size". Sizing essentially makes the paper more waterproof... or bleed proof. If you put ink on an unsized paper it will bleed immediately and soak in completely, showing on the backside of the paper. Most paper is sized.

I need to use unsized paper because I need both the glue and color to penetrate the fibers completely, creating a more homogeneous composite. By fully saturating the washi fibers with glue, it becomes much more durable and stiff. The result is pretty much comparable to a soft hardwood, and it can be carved like wood with woodworking tools.

So, long story short, I ordered the original Awagami paper, which took a while, but tracking says it should be here in a couple days.

In the meantime, lets take a look at the buttons! I got some very cool lichens for this batch. There are more than 15 buttons here... but I just made a few extra to use for the next batch.

View attachment 12972

I was lucky enough to go on a little sailing trip where I was determined to hunt down some rare and unique lichens.

The trip was to the northern shores of the Georgian Bay, part of lake Huron, French River Provincial Park to be exact. A quick google image search will show you what that place is all about.

The burnt-orange and ultra-vibrant lime green lichens are from the trip. The lime greenies were growing in a rocky bog-land. They were curled around some dead tree branches. The orange guys grew only on the exposed rocky edges of islands.... and seemed to favor only those that were the most exposed to the elements.

The blue and yellow-green lichens are from a downed poplar branch that fell in one of the recent storms. While I was away on the boat, Steff found the branch and brought it home. I'm not sure if it's funny or scary.... but when Steff met me coming off the boat, we both immediately started bragging about our independent lichen finds. Looking at the above batch... I'm not sure who got the greatest haul!
These look so rad--I can't wait to see how the first batch of toads turn out! Its probably in the nomad thread somewhere, but do you have a post where you talk about how these buttons are made? Do you mount the lichen on the back of the button in some fashion and then just cover it in a clear resin?
 

Jill NYC

Portable Hoarder
These look so rad--I can't wait to see how the first batch of toads turn out! Its probably in the nomad thread somewhere, but do you have a post where you talk about how these buttons are made? Do you mount the lichen on the back of the button in some fashion and then just cover it in a clear resin?

here are posts on the button being made - incredible stuff!!!

https://fuckcombustion.com/threads/the-nomad-from-morwood.21143/post-1171403
https://fuckcombustion.com/threads/the-nomad-from-morwood.21143/post-1164605
https://fuckcombustion.com/threads/the-nomad-from-morwood.21143/post-1110780
https://fuckcombustion.com/threads/the-nomad-from-morwood.21143/post-1107884
 

Copacetic

Somewhere North of The Wall
@Vehmic, I definitely need to catch up on those anime... thanks for posting!

On the Toad front, I had a hiccup with the paper I wanted to use for making the shells. I originally used washi from the Awagami factory in Japan, which worked wonderfully..... but has since become more difficult and costly to get because of COVID Japan-Canada shipping restrictions. I switched to another washi that I thought would be practically identical, apart form being easier to order from within Canada. Well, it was definitely not the same. Although it was listed as "unsized", it was actually sized. Sizing is a term used in the paper industry for a process of coating or impregnating a paper with a "size". Sizing essentially makes the paper more waterproof... or bleed proof. If you put ink on an unsized paper it will bleed immediately and soak in completely, showing on the backside of the paper. Most paper is sized.

I need to use unsized paper because I need both the glue and color to penetrate the fibers completely, creating a more homogeneous composite. By fully saturating the washi fibers with glue, it becomes much more durable and stiff. The result is pretty much comparable to a soft hardwood, and it can be carved like wood with woodworking tools.

So, long story short, I ordered the original Awagami paper, which took a while, but tracking says it should be here in a couple days.

In the meantime, lets take a look at the buttons! I got some very cool lichens for this batch. There are more than 15 buttons here... but I just made a few extra to use for the next batch.

View attachment 12972

I was lucky enough to go on a little sailing trip where I was determined to hunt down some rare and unique lichens.

The trip was to the northern shores of the Georgian Bay, part of lake Huron, French River Provincial Park to be exact. A quick google image search will show you what that place is all about.

The burnt-orange and ultra-vibrant lime green lichens are from the trip. The lime greenies were growing in a rocky bog-land. They were curled around some dead tree branches. The orange guys grew only on the exposed rocky edges of islands.... and seemed to favor only those that were the most exposed to the elements.

The blue and yellow-green lichens are from a downed poplar branch that fell in one of the recent storms. While I was away on the boat, Steff found the branch and brought it home. I'm not sure if it's funny or scary.... but when Steff met me coming off the boat, we both immediately started bragging about our independent lichen finds. Looking at the above batch... I'm not sure who got the greatest haul!
Wow, these are gorgeous buttons Dan, well done (both of you) on finding those lichen, they're amazing.
Georgian bay looks like the perfect canoe/hammock camping destination, I love the type of rock/water landscape I'm seeing in the image search.
Between storms and wildfires the region must have taken a real beating recently.
There's a smartphone app you might be familiar with called 'What Three Words' which enables the user to very easily record and share an exact geo-location (I think it has a 3 or 5 meter resolution). I mention it as it would be kinda cool to know the exact spot your lichen grew!
A typical map ref' would also do this, but I mention What Three Words as during an outdoor expedition you're almost certainly trying to minimise the amount of time peering at a screen, and it does that very well (and it's a fantastic emergency and convenience utility) I'm not sponsored, I swear!
I broke my first Nomad stem recently (big drop onto a laminate floor), thankfully the Nomad itself toughed it out and remains completely undamaged and I have a spare stem. The Nomad is a solid little vape 💪🤘.
I'm hoping there will be some of your 'capsule' stems (maybe wood) available around the time the Toad is ready to go?
If I'm lucky enough to be in on the first Toad batch I hope to get a spare stem and combine postage.
 

Dan Morrison

Well-Known Member
Manufacturer
@Copacetic That sounds like a really cool idea! I'd like to get photos of the places as well.

The 'capsule' stems I phased out for the Toads. I found that after going back and forth between the wood capsule and stock glass, I preferred the stock glass. For one, the chamber size is wider with the stock stems without capsules. Two, with proper packing and grinding technique, no difference in extraction evenness. Three, this is my big one, with the stock basket screens you can adjust the chamber depth, which I like to do often.

I think the capsules give a cleaner look, but theyre also a pain to make... very time consuming. Basically takes me a whole day to make about 15, so no matter what It's a loss for me. They require a lot of hand fitting, so cnc may not help me down the road.

That said I'm working on alternatives to make the stem loading more of an aesthetically pleasing experience... been testing ideas for a quick on-the-go loader for a long time now.
 

Dan Morrison

Well-Known Member
Manufacturer
Do you mount the lichen on the back of the button in some fashion and then just cover it in a clear resin?

I make a lens from optical acrylic and press fit it into the brass button housing. The lichens are glued to a paper backing using wheat starch paste. Before I encapsulate the lichens, I put all the parts into a dehydrator to make sure there is no moisture inside. Once the two halves are press fit together, they'll never come apart.

This works much better than using resin to encapsulate because the resin tends to kill the vibrancy. The way light passes through resin is totally different, and so you don't get all the lovely light bouncing effects inside the button. Also, I think the acrylic lens method helps preserve the lichens better over the long run.... and acrylic is very non-yellowing, durable, and clear.
 

Copacetic

Somewhere North of The Wall
@Copacetic That sounds like a really cool idea! I'd like to get photos of the places as well.

The 'capsule' stems I phased out for the Toads. I found that after going back and forth between the wood capsule and stock glass, I preferred the stock glass. For one, the chamber size is wider with the stock stems without capsules. Two, with proper packing and grinding technique, no difference in extraction evenness. Three, this is my big one, with the stock basket screens you can adjust the chamber depth, which I like to do often.

I think the capsules give a cleaner look, but theyre also a pain to make... very time consuming. Basically takes me a whole day to make about 15, so no matter what It's a loss for me. They require a lot of hand fitting, so cnc may not help me down the road.

That said I'm working on alternatives to make the stem loading more of an aesthetically pleasing experience... been testing ideas for a quick on-the-go loader for a long time now.
OK Dan, I look forward to seeing what you've got up your sleeve re' loading. Will you be sticking to glass stems only going forward for both Toad and Nomad II?
The reasons for my own interest in capsule loading are practical (quick, discrete, easy swaps while out and about) rather than aesthetic, so despite your capsules looking great I appreciate that they must be tricky and time consuming to make, even if they do look good.
I've tried a few different stem loading approaches myself and appreciate the difficulty of making a quick swap system. I've always come back to your own 2 screen with spacer method as it guarantees a nice even roast without hotspots, and combined with sliding the whole assembly from end to end within the glass stem it almost eliminates the need for cleaning the glass! (I find the screens need to be cleaned a bit more often with this approach, but don't mind this).
Changing the load is fine while sat at home, but too fiddly to be tackled easily while out and about. But it turns out that I've been quite happy using the Nomad exclusively at home anyway, even in the before-times, when we could still leave our shelters 😷😬. Who knew your post-apocalypse themed sci-fi device would actually see us through a global catastrophe!
I'd love a quick swap system for the Toad though as it would deffo be an EDC for me. I've reserved a special pocket in my ☣️environment suit next to my 🔫Purell PEW🤺PEW.
 

Aryeah

Vape Man
This looks so good. I have a firewood 7 and I just picked up a Millaana 3. I can't wait until these start coming out. I bet there is so much interest in the Toad. Maybe we can get Dan to do some sort of raffle or random draw like they do with high end sneakers to keep the bots away. I just ordered my Nomad in June, so I'm pretty far in line right now, probably batch 4 or 5. But I haven't asked what batch I am in.
 

Vehmic

Bogwood Ent
I don't even have questions, just thrilled to get hands on one!

From Okin to Nomad, I love watching Dan's builds all come together. Really sets the highest of standards for craft vapes.
The Okin.... while I highly doubt any owner would part with theirs I would love to come by one. To my mind it conjures the most ritualistic connotations of any device I have seen. I don't partake very often but I think I enjoy preparing as much as the act of elevation itself. I have a classic story while we wait with baited breath for the next update:

There was once, my lord and crown upon my head, a man in a certain city, who was a fisherman by trade and a hashish-eater by occupation. When he had earned his daily wage, he would spend a little of it on food and the rest on a sufficiency of that hilarious herb. He took his hashish three times a day: once in the morning on an empty stomach, once at noon, and once at sundown. Thus he was never lacking in extravagent gaity. Yet he worked hard enough at his fishing, though sometimes in a very extravagent fashion.

On a certain evening, for instance, when he had taken a larger dose of his favorite drug than usual, he lit a tallow candle and sat in front of it, asking himself eager questions and answering with obliging wit. After some hours of this delight, he became aware of the cool silence of the night about him and the clear light of a full moon abouve his head, and exclaimed affably to himself: "Dear friend, the silent streets and the cool of the moon invite us to a walk. Let us go forth, while all the world is in bed and none may mar our solitary exaltation." Speaking in this way to himself, the fisherman left his house and began to walk towards the river; but, as he went, he saw the light of the full moon lying in the roadway and took it to be the water of the river. "My dear old friend the fisherman," he said, "get your line and take the best of the fishing, while your rivals are indoors." So he ran back and fetched his hook and line, and cast into the glittering patch of moonlight on the road.

Soon an enormous dog, tempted by the smell of the bait, swallowed the hook greedily and then, feeling the barb, made desperate efforts to get loose. The fisherman struggled for some time against this enormous fish, but at last he was pulled over and rolled into the moonlight. Even then he would not let go his line, but held on grimly, uttering frightened cries. "Help, help, good Mussulmans!" he shouted. "Help me to secure this mighty fish, for he is dragging me into the deeps! Help, help, good friends, for I am drowning!" The guards of that quarter ran up at the noise and began laughing at the fisherman's antics; but when he yelled: "Allah curse you, O sons of bitches! Is it a time to laugh when I am drowning?" they grew angry and, after giving him a sound beating, dragged him into the presence of the kadi.

Allah had willed that the kadi should also be addicted to the use of hashish; recognizing that the prisoner was under that jocund influence, he rated the guards soundly and dismissed them. Then he handed over the fisherman to his slaves that they might give him a bed for calm sleep. After a pleasant night and a day given up to the consumption of excellent food, the fisherman was called to the kadi in the evening and received by him like a brother. His host supped with him; and then the two sat opposite the lighted candles and each swallowed enough hashish to destroy a hundred-year-old elephant. When the drug exalted their natural dispositions, they undressed completely and began to dance about, singing and committing a thousand extravagances.

Now it happened that the Sultan and his wazir were walking through the city, disguised as merchants, and heard a strange noise rising from the kadi's house. They entered through the unlatched door and found two naked men, who stopped dancing at their entrance and welcomed them without the least embarrassment. The Sultan sat down to watch his venerable kadi dance again; but when he saw that the other man had a dark and lively zabb, so long that the eye might not carry to the end of it, he whispered in his wazir's startled ear: "As Allah lives, our kadi is not as well hung as his guest!" "What are you whispering about?" cried the fisherman. "I am the Sultan of this city and I order you to watch my dance respectfully, otherwise I will have your head cut off. I am the Sultan, this is my wazir; I hold the whole world like a fish in the palm of my right hand." The Sultan and his wazir realized that they were in the presence of two hashish-eaters, and the wazir, to amuse his master, addressed the fisherman, saying: "How long have you been Sultan, dear master, and can you tell me what has happened to your predecessor?" "I deposed the fellow," answered the fisherman. "I said: 'Go Away!' and he went away."
"Did he not protest?" asked the wazir.

"Not at all," replied the fisherman. "He was delighted to be relased from the burden of kingship. He abdicated with such good grace that I keep him by me as a servant. He is an excellent dancer. When he pines for his throne, I tell him stories. Now I want to piss." So saying, he lifted up his interminable tool and, walking over to the Sultan, seemed to be about to discharge upon him.

"I also want to piss," exclaimed the kadi, and took up the same threatening position in front of the wazir. The two victims shouted with laughter and fled from that house, crying over their shoulders: "God's curse on all hashish-eaters!"

Next morning, that the jest might be complete, the Sultan called the kadi and his guest before him. "O discreet pillar of our law," he said, "I have called you to me because I wish to learn the most convenient manner of pissing. Should one squat and carefully lift the robe, as religion prescribes? Should one stand up, as is the unclean habit of unbelievers? Or should one undress completely and piss against one's friends, as is the custom of two hashish-eaters of my acquaintance?"

Knowing that the Sultan used to walk about the city in disguise, the kadi realized in a flash the identity of his last night's visitors, and fell on his knees, crying: "My lord, my lord, the hashish spake in these indelicacies, not I!"

But the fisherman, who by his careful daily taking of the drug was always under its effect, called somewhat sharply: "And what of it? You are in your palace this morning, we were in our palace last night."

"O sweetest noise in all our kingdom," answered the delighted King, "as we are both Sultans of this city, I think you had better henceforth stay with me in my palace. If you can tell stories, I trust that you will at once sweeten our hearing with a chosen one."

"I will do so gladly, as soon as you have pardoned my wazir," replied the fisherman; so the Sultan bade the kadi rise and sent him back forgiven to his duties.

Excerpt from 1001 Nights.


 
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