The Toasty Top

[PurpleDazed]

Bio sorry for your loss, Good Luck to you in your new place though!

Mom as I have experienced already Alan is very good to work with, I expect a shipping notice any day now. I cant wait to start vaping again. I could use the Extreme 'Q' but I would rather wait and get the most from my herb.

 

[Orestes]

Welcome aboard


Also, Alan: Wood shipped monday. Pretty impressive considering that puerto rico took the brunt of hurricane irene. Adds yet another layer of mystique to this piece, if she works out


And I had a thought re: Top design. In my experience of it, the top's only weakness is that it is a top, and whenever the cord is trod upon or kicked, the unit comes off the base and falls top down, breaking glass or splitting wood. I've glued my wood tube together about 5 times since purchasing the unit. Granted, I'm rather clumsy.

What about a top shaped mouthpiece? Something about 1.5 inches long, a cone with a concave rise, so you'd still get the small comfy cylinder at the end. But it would be pretty much bomb proof. Not sure how much covering the top of the heatport would effect temperatures, but it couldn't be more than a few degrees.

I'm pretty much describing this:

But made of wood-- or plastic. If you used plastic, this shape would also work as a universal bong converter

And I think it would fit the aesthetic really well. And it could use the same metal piece as the current tubes.

 

[biojuggernaut]

interesting I've never had this happen. Sometimes I squeeze it outta my hand almost the same way you can shoots a hershey kiss from its wrapper though

 

[Twanbiz]

Must say I have been impressed with this piece, I have the glass tubes and it really doesn't get too hit to the touch ever. The vape has a great look and can deliver visible vapor when used correctly.

 

[Alan]

Thank you everyone for being patient with me. I have been working on an art project for the last three weeks. I just pulled an "all nighter" last night to get everything boxed up and ready to ship to the art show in Rio de Janeiro. Everything in one box and right at the 60 lb weight limit. Whew. There is never enough time to complete these projects. It turned out well. I just lost some sleep. Now back to Toasty Tops.

All the positive feedback from everyone is great to hear and very encouraging. I tried hard to make the Toasty Top something really special. I didn't want to experience the same issues that manufacturers had dealt with in the past. The easily (user) replaceable heating element design allows a single entry hole into the heat sink cavity. This eliminates any burning or charred wood smell since the hot wires to the heating element are never in contact with wood. You will only smell warm beeswax and wood with the Toasty Top. The single entry hole also allows for a stainless steel washer at the bottom of the hole to achieve an all stainless steel air path.
A precise bore into the wood allows my heat sink to stay in place without the use of a spring clip. This eliminates any concerns of rattling. It also makes it look more simple and pleasing.
The roasting tip design was actually the very first thing I invented when pursuing a better vaporizer design. I didn't have the equipment to make tubes like the other guys were doing, so I figured another way. Have been doing a lot of threading for my other hobbies, so thought it would work here too. Screen maintenance / good air flow is so important to efficient roasting so I wanted to be able to easily clean the screen. The thread off tips have shown to be very versatile with the other manufacturers units.

I should have some time to make TT's again now.

PurpleDazed - I'm glad you found me. I'm kind of the new kid on the block here. Trying to make a name for myself. Hoping to make the best vaporizer. I will get a little sleep and then make some short ground glass tubes. Should be able to get them to you early next week. I do have an actual 14mm joint now to test the tubes for fit.

biojuggernaut - I feel for you in your loss. Hopefully it will still turn up. Moving always sucks even if it is to a better place. The nice thing about vaporizing in an apartment is that it disturbs no other tenants.

Thanks for the kind words as always mom.

Orestes - You have some great tips and ideas. I have been using a 1/4" hole punch and 3/4" stainless pipe screens. They fit snugly into the roasting tube tip but yet are easy to remove.
Great news on the wood. I will be looking for it. Hopefully, it all works out well.
So you want a little shorty wood stem that sort of continues the contour of the top up to a comfortable mouthpieces? That sounds doable. It would definitely be more durable.
One of the things I did for my first Toasty Top was add a wood cap that fit snugly into the 1" bore hole. There was a hole in the top of the cap that the roasting tube would slide into but it would make a tight fit. I also had another hole drilled into the cap with a 1/4" stainless tubing sticking out of it. I connected an aquarium pump to the stainless tubing and pressurized the space above the heat sink. It forced the air through the heat sink, through the roasting tube and blew vapor out the end of the roasting tube. There was a little air valve to control the flow and shut it off. It worked really well.

Twanbiz - I'm glad you are happy with your TT. I didn't have the heavy glass tubes available at that time. The ones you have are a little more elegant but fragile. The heavy glass tubes heat up even less than the thin tubes.

 

[PurpleDazed]

Alan Get your rest and Get busy!!! hehe

Heck Im glad you were able to make a new 'spin' to an old 'top' I cant wait to try your design.

 

[momofthegoons]

I'm really looking forward to seeing how the wood Orestes bought turns out. Back when I sent Rick some walnut, it drove me crazy waiting to see how it turned. From the pics, this wood looks to have some great grain pattern. Good luck and post a pic asap!

 

[Rick]

You may be the new kid on the block Alan but you sure put lots of serious thought and application to your design of the TT.
We often get stuck in the same old routine that has always worked but now and again we need fresh air and new inspiration. You have provided that inspiration in the log vape arena here on FC.
You make a very good vape and provide excellent service. I am happy to have you as a fellow 'competitor' and thank you again for your open source access to your ideas.
You got me on the stems. Our SS tipped stems will not be as neat as yours with the threaded install.
Try a TT folks. You will be pleased. And have fun Alan with Orestes wood.......er....., well you know what I mean. We are all looking forward to seeing more of your fine creations.

 

[Alan]

Thanks again Rick! I'm glad you appreciate my design. The engineer in me is constantly seeking to improve things no matter where I see them. It is not often that a person gets to do what they love and also make other people happy. We have that opportunity. I want both of us to have customers benefit from the things I have discovered / designed. I notice that a lot of FC members have multiple vaporizers in their signature line. There is always room for one more vaporizer in the house. Competition always makes the consumer the winner.

I'm sure your new SS stems will work just as well as my Toasty Tubes. They aren't much different than how mine are configured with only one clip installed in your tube. I have never had a problem with the screen getting blown out of the tube when you clear the spent herb. You could just use a bamboo skewer from the mouthpiece end to push the screen out for maintenance and then use a 1/4" dowel to push the screen back in place. Maybe you already do this and I'm just out of the loop.

I'm a little curious how you cut your screens. I have been just using a 1/4" punch on 3/4" SS pipe screens and getting seven 1/4" screens from each one with very little waste.

The blue mahoe wood arrived today. Looks pretty good. No cracks so far just a tiny worm hole. Hopefully the worm is gone. Should be able to work around it. Stay tuned.

Edit: I now have Orestes blue mahoe wood in my Excalibur food dehydrator. It has an adjustable temperature from 85 to around 150. I have it set at 100 to start. Will slowly begin raising it up to 150.

 

[underdog]

Welcome aboard


Also, Alan: Wood shipped monday. Pretty impressive considering that puerto rico took the brunt of hurricane irene. Adds yet another layer of mystique to this piece, if she works out

Hey Orestes, did you buy some wood from Puerto Rico or is that where you live?

Just asking because I just spent a few years living there so it makes me curious either way!

If you got wood from there what kind is it?

 

[Orestes]

I bought the wood from puerto rico... I've never been, unfortunately. It was a seller on Etsy, but I think the shop has closed temporarily due to the hurricane, because i can't seem to find them now.

The wood is blue mahoe... It's really dark and complex, at least from the pictures.

Though I just found them on wikipedia! At the bottom of the blue mahoe page it says:
"Tropic Ventures Rainforest Enrichment and Sustainable Forestry Project, an experimental sustainable forest project near Patillas, Puerto Rico, currently raises and harvests Blue Mahoe."

And that's where I got the wood. How cool!



And I just got news that the wood has arrived! I'm posting from a bus that's taking me from oakland to santa rosa, and it has free internet. great stuff. Sadly my maple Top is not with me, though I shall certainly be bringing home some northern delicacies with which to pack it.



also-- forced air TT-- Madness!

 

[underdog]

I bought the wood from puerto rico... I've never been, unfortunately. It was a seller on Etsy, but I think the shop has closed temporarily due to the hurricane, because i can't seem to find them now.

The wood is blue mahoe... It's really dark and complex, at least from the pictures.

Though I just found them on wikipedia! At the bottom of the blue mahoe page it says:
"Tropic Ventures Rainforest Enrichment and Sustainable Forestry Project, an experimental sustainable forest project near Patillas, Puerto Rico, currently raises and harvests Blue Mahoe."

And that's where I got the wood. How cool!

That's awesome, I know right where that's at and have been right through there on more than one occasion.. never knew they were harvesting lumber, damn that would have been good to know! Thanks for sharing..

 

[Ed's TnT]

I'm a little curious how you cut your screens. I have been just using a 1/4" punch on 3/4" SS pipe screens and getting seven 1/4" screens from each one with very little waste.

The blue mahoe wood arrived today. Looks pretty good. No cracks so far just a tiny worm hole. Hopefully the worm is gone. Should be able to work around it. Stay tuned.

Edit: I now have Orestes blue mahoe wood in my Excalibur food dehydrator. It has an adjustable temperature from 85 to around 150. I have it set at 100 to start. Will slowly begin raising it up to 150.

I do the screens the same way Alan, works well, as you said very little waste. That Mahoe is gonna be fun! I have one these dehydrators also, what did you use to seal the front of it? Very good thinking!

 

[Rick]

I use a Harbor Freight hand held sheet metal punch, the better quality one that has a deeper throat. I set it in the vise and punch 5 at a time. I use 1 inch rounds but will be getting some sheets of ss screen in the future. If you punch 4 or 5 at a time, the punch will cut the screen clean. The vise is essential because you need to give it a fast snap for a clean cut. You can cut alot very quickly that way. I am not nearly as efficient as you are at getting the quantity of stem screens from a round. i tried the hand single punch with a homemade cutter. That did not last long at all.
Our screen replacement kit includes a bamboo poker for getting the old screen out, new screens and clips and a piece of 1/4" round steel rod with handle(reinforced fuel line tubing) for installing new screens from the outer end of the stem. The screens are the same size as before, 1/4 inch. What will be changing is the outer dimension of the stem tips. As you know Alan, SS tubing is sized differently than brass and other stuff. We will be using a 5/16 OD with a .020 wall thickness, putting the ID very very close to the traditional brass, slightly over .025 They will be pressed in the same as always, with an interference fit in the nylon tube and no glue of any kind. A 5/16" SS tube that will NOT give, pressed into a 5/16" hole in nylon that will give....just enough.

edit
A food dehydrator would be cool because of all the air movement within the box and out of the box, and the ability to dial down the temp for slow drying. Another new project here because we always can use blocks drier(Dry=stable wood) and we have a couple food dryers, one good sized.
There you go oozing ideas Alan, again. Simple ideas too.

 

[Alan]

I love it when I can find a solution using something I already have. Just using it a different way. Like when I was making popcorn for my son a few years ago. I had seen the coffee roasters at Whole Foods and they didn't look to be operating much differently than my air popcorn machine. I looked online to see if it had been done before. Turns out it is quite common to roast green coffee beans in an air popcorn popper. You just need to have it near a good exhaust fan or window. It will set off the smoke detector. Takes about 5 to 7 minutes depending upon how dark you like your beans. The real trick is stopping the roast from getting too dark. I place a heavy aluminum pan in the freezer ahead of time and then dump the crackling beans into it an swirl them around. The roast is very quickly stopped and the beans begin to cool. You can stop the roast at any stage you want. Green beans store well for two years and are about half the price of roasted coffee beans. Nothing like a good cup of fresh roast coffee.
The swirl of the air fluidizes the beans and gives an even roast. Now I just need to devise a vaporizer than creates a swirl of air for even herb roasting. Hmmm

I was all ready to build a wood dryer using 100 watt light bulbs (while you can still get them) and a cardboard box. I thought it might work better with a fan in the box sort of like my dehydrator. Uh, yeah. My dehydrator. I'll just use that instead. So far so good. You can't get the wood too dry. The closer you can get the wood to its operating temperature, the better. You want the wood shrunk down as far as possible before boring the hole. Additional shrinkage after installation of the stainless steel sleeve can cause cracks in the wood. The larger the hole is in diameter, the more it will be affected by changes in humidity.

I like your use of 5/16" stainless tubing Rick. That means my tubes should now fit right into the Zap port and your tubes will fit into the TT. Your brass tubes will only fit your brass heat ports and a few special stainless units. Ed's new 5/16" tubes (looks like you have another new project Ed) will now be compatible with the TT as well as the Zap.
Sounds like you provide a good screen replacement kit Rick. You definitely provide excellent customer service. I provide a bamboo skewer with the TT and one of the pegs removed from the stand is the perfect size to install the screen. Sort of a built-in tool.

 

[Ed's TnT]

Ed's new 5/16" tubes (looks like you have another new project Ed) will now be compatible with the TT as well as the Zap.

Not sure I follow, the tips have always been the 5/16" brass with the 9/32" insert, they have always worked right? Alan you never said what you do for sealing the front of the dehydrator, with all those trays out you gotta have something to cover the front if you're drying larger blocks right?

 

[Rick]

Fresh roasted coffee beans! Another example of the simple life beating that of Kings.
Ed, some dryers have a front on them and the racks can be put at any height. I would think if you have a dryer where the trays are the front, maybe you could drape something over the front? You do want lots of air movement so it does not have to be a tight fit. Maybe a towel or something similar. Just be sure to let some air out as those stock trays do not fit tight anyway.
What will happen on our tips might be confusing to some so I will explain better on our thread. Basically, the OD of the tip will be bigger so the heatport top hole will be bigger. Outer dimension(OD) on brass stem tips is 9/32. OD on the new stainless is 5/16, sightly bigger. The new SS tips will press into the current hole you drill in the wood stems Ed. They will not be removable and in an insert though, unless you upsize everything. The good news is I am also working on conversion bushings/adapters so the new stems will work in old Zaps and the old stems will work in the SS stem upsized heatport. We will also keep offering the brass tipped stems as there are just too many old Zaps out there.

 

[Alan]

Ed - My dehydrator looks like a big box. There is a front cover that covers the ends of the trays. I just install one tray in the middle for the wood.
Good news that the new SS Zap tips will press into the hole you drill for your tubes.

Rick - That will be nice to have the adapter for your tubes to use on the old and the new Zaps. Your new stems should work fine on the TT.

 

[Ed's TnT]

Thanks for the info guys, was and am still running a little slow this morning!

 

[PurpleDazed]

It has arrived!!!!!!!!!!!

I got my toasty top and 14mm tapered shortie tubes to use with my GOG bong. I am now waiting on the warmup and hopefully by 3pm I will be vaping again.


Thank You Alan

 

[PurpleDazed]

Ahhhhh.......

It's Very Nice

I loaded only 2 tubes and I am recalling Fast times at Ridgemont Highs Jeff Spicolli talking to his friend on the phone and hits his head several times with a sneaker and exclaims I'm So Wasted!!!!

Loving It


Thanks again Alan

 

[momofthegoons]

I knew you would love it PurpleDazed!

Now you need to update your signature!

 

[Alan]

You are welcome PurpleDazed. I'm glad you are enjoying your Toasty Top. Wish I could have gotten it to you sooner. Now you can begin bonding with your top. Hope you enjoy the heat massage / aromatherapy uses as well.

Stay Toasty

 

[Alan]

I finally got a chance to turn a figured dark cherry wood Toasty Top. It turned out very well. The temperature is comparable with sugar maple.

 

[PurpleDazed]

looks nice alan