Discontinued The Venus Apollo

[Hippie Dickie]

I have read and seen how metallic reflective surfaces are used to block and reflect heat radiation from getting to more sensitive parts. this would make sense to install for example aluminium shield there, between heating element and the oak, so that it would prevent most heat radiation from directly reaching the oak. Of course the shield will get warm too, but nowhere near the temps of heating element and thus will radiate many times less energy towards the oak. And if this aluminum shield would be installed so that there is little airgap also between the heat shield and oak, the temperature transfer from conduction would be much less and I think these changes will lower the temperature of the wood considerably.

this is more or less what i do and it works a treat. except i use 0.010" thick polished stainless steel sheet (highly reflective).

There is a 1/2" gap between the heater coil and the stainless shield, and a 1/8" gap between the shield and the outer wood cube.

my oven tube extends through a hole in the top of the cube, so i use a punched stainless steel disc to center the hot glass in the opening so it doesn't touch the wood on the top - keeps the wood much cooler.

dead air is a great insulator.

 

[villekille2]

The northen light of vaporizers!

If the autoshutoff is 4 mn how is it possible to let it powered on 10mn on a table without inhaling...?

I think there is no problem in fact, isn't it?

Just to turn it on again immediately

the shield can be stainess as well, should not make much difference in production cost for such a small piece. I think heat problems are behind, and maybe the fan will be not necessary, but at least good to have that option in case it will need extra cooling.

Hi Hippie Dickie it is nice to hear from you about the shielding working in real life! Now I just need to find a good way to attach the shield in place, keeping it a small distance away from the wood.

 

[Shit Snacks]

Love the sound of everything so far @villekille2, shame it had been a while, but glad to hear the time was filled with further testing and development on your end!

I think you'll get a good handle on the insulation, sounds like its a minor issue that should be fine for most users as is, but nice to get out ahead of it. Mica does work well in Zion but it also has a thicker wood body I believe, so that is a big heat protection factor as well.

Regarding the booster temp, hot is good for most, I mean it's not even needed necessarily right? You set it at 1-10 to vape at a temp, then have option to boost during the session as needed? Would a temp adjustment require it to be turned off first, then start a new session? If that's the case then the boost may be more integral for some, and having 3 settings for it would help various users find a set up that works for them. Max heat is great, but it must also be tameable for every type of user (having 1-10 already sounds like plenty of variety imo, but maybe I just need more info about temp/power settings and the boost feature)...

Keep it up dude!

 

[stickstones]

I would not go the fan route. You'll be adding components, size, cost and more points of failure. There is a simpler, more elegant solution here somewhere...

 

[villekille2]

Yes, about fan I agree, I really wish the shielding solution will be enough on its own. And it should be, anyway it is not even now such a big problem without any shielding and as Hippie said, it helps a lot to have SS shield. A fan would increase cost and complexity somewhat, such micro fans don't come cheap and I prefer simple, with solid materials. One tester called it Vapor Hammer because he said it feels so solid in hand that he feels like hammering some nails down, and also how the vapors hit him like a hammer in head.

shit snacks, the possible boost setting I was talking about, would require a specific procedure to adjust, it is not to be done on the fly. Only the general power of heating element is adjustable always when it is on, from 10% to 100%. But power setting doesn't need to be changed usually, once you've found your sweet spot. So after adjusting it to correct power level, it will stay in memory of the vaporizer and in the future always when you turn the vape on, you just wait it to warm up, see the lights change to indicate it is ready, and start enjoying vapors. If you wish to boost extra power when taking a hit, you just lower your fingers on the vaporizer and it will boost. and lift fingers and the vaporizer returns to the chosen power level. So it is very simple to use and I guess the power adjustment could be made also so that the user chooses and saves the power outside of vaporizing session, but I don't think it takes anything away to keep it like this, that it can be adjusted on the fly, anyway some people might have different ways to use it than me. Or to change power level according to wishes for that particular session, or depending how baked the herbs already are...I wanted to keep all options open. So I think, having a possibility to adjust boost too, will make sense. I think I just need to do it like the warm up time adjustment, that there is a specific gesture to do when the vaporizer is turned off, and it will wake up in adjustment mode.

 

[Shit Snacks]

Yes, about fan I agree, I really wish the shielding solution will be enough on its own. And it should be, anyway it is not even now such a big problem without any shielding and as Hippie said, it helps a lot to have SS shield. A fan would increase cost and complexity somewhat, such micro fans don't come cheap and I prefer simple, with solid materials. One tester called it Vapor Hammer because he said it feels so solid in hand that he feels like hammering some nails down, and also how the vapors hit him like a hammer in head.

shit snacks, the possible boost setting I was talking about, would require a specific procedure to adjust, it is not to be done on the fly. Only the general power of heating element is adjustable always when it is on, from 10% to 100%. But power setting doesn't need to be changed usually, once you've found your sweet spot. So after adjusting it to correct power level, it will stay in memory of the vaporizer and in the future always when you turn the vape on, you just wait it to warm up, see the lights change to indicate it is ready, and start enjoying vapors. If you wish to boost extra power when taking a hit, you just lower your fingers on the vaporizer and it will boost. and lift fingers and the vaporizer returns to the chosen power level. So it is very simple to use and I guess the power adjustment could be made also so that the user chooses and saves the power outside of vaporizing session, but I don't think it takes anything away to keep it like this, that it can be adjusted on the fly, anyway some people might have different ways to use it than me. Or to change power level according to wishes for that particular session, or depending how baked the herbs already are...I wanted to keep all options open. So I think, having a possibility to adjust boost too, will make sense. I think I just need to do it like the warm up time adjustment, that there is a specific gesture to do when the vaporizer is turned off, and it will wake up in adjustment mode.

Ah yes I forgot about the touch panel, this is such a deceptively techy device!

Yes I see most users may just like one setting once they find their favorite, with a boost to finish loads as needed. However I tend to temp step loads, and can have a lot of variance in draw/pack/herbs which leads to more regular temp/power adjustments.

I do think ten settings that can be done on the fly is plenty, and a single boost setting would suffice. Options are important and invaluable, but simplicity shouldnt be overlooked of course

And Hammer sounds nice, shame its chosen already... Maybe there is a variation on that for the name? Or is the plan to stick with pocketpot now? Still pulling for Apollo... lol

 

[IAmKrazy2]

Mica comes in sheets, and is fairly easy to work with, cut, and shape.

 

[btka]

I am not a big fan of mica.. I am owning a mica vapman and sometimes it smells like a hairblower they also use mica... if using mica I would not use it in the air path... I also do not want to inhale mica dust or particals... i would prefer ss to be honest....

 

[villekille2]

Hello again! All is good, we tried new heat protection solutions and it seems to work, and I made a new revision of the electronics board so now all is waiting for me to finish ordering of new parts and then if all works as expected, we are ready to start assembling them and shipping out. It will take some 2 weeks to try and test electronics and I think 2 more weeks to start shipping, I feel quite confident in this so I will already order enough for production so that after testing no need to wait that long.

What I changed now compared to the previous prototypes of summer:

Wooden frame construction more strong. The lighter coloured wood piece in the middle, it used to be just a thin piece covering the electronics, but now it is a thicker piece of birch wood, and electronic board will be inside the birch instead of oak, so that the glass fibre printed circuit board is not just something to be covered, but is actually playing a role of strengthening the structure of the vaporizer, and provides a solid foundation for the capacitive touch sense working in every situation when they are one piece instead of just a cover on top of electronics.

Because of these changes, I wanted to redesign the board layout so that components are placed only in the center line, leaving the side areas of PCB to play the role of strengthening the structure instead of carrying electronics. The vaporizer is really as small as it can be now, but with these changes I was able to have more solid wood around the central area of the vape.

The electrical connection between batteries and electronics has been made better, previous connections might have started to get problems after some years but now I think all connections and materials are chosen to support having a lifelong companion for vapors.

Changes to lower temperature of the wood around heating element.
Changes to lower the conduction of heat to back panel

I don't remember anything else now, but I think main thing now is to get some vapes to people instead of only talking about it

 

[Shit Snacks]

I don't remember anything else now, but I think main thing now is to get some vapes to people instead of only talking about it

Hahaha, on you know that's more than plenty for us dude! Keep it up and good luck!

All sounds great, looking forward to the next developments and hopefully testing one myself some day.... This is essentially the only thing that really ignites my VAS now in a world with Zion (and maybe Grasshopper too) in it

 

[Delta3DStudios]

Woot! Can't see the finished product! I know us wood geeks are always excited for another sexy wooden portable vape

 

[virtualpurple]

Now this is a vape that really gets me excited. Great update, and I can't wait to see this find its way to some of us!

 

[Mr. Me2]

Let me join in the excitement for this new Vape. Are pictures available of this latest version (or does it look the same, even with these improvements)?

 

[Copacetic]

Hello again! All is good...................
......................I don't remember anything else now, but I think main thing now is to get some vapes to people instead of only talking about it

The use of halogen would have me excited on it's own, so the other features seen here make this the vape I most want, my Grasshopper pre-order is trembling in fear

I wish you the greatest of success Ville!

 

[VapeKnight]

As an owner of an Aromed , I love the idea of a portable halogen vape. I can't wait to see the finished product. great job so far.

 

[villekille2]

Hello again, and thank you for the supporting messages! I have made some improvements again, but I wanted to ask the public opinion about one feature which is now possible after the recent updates to the rigidity of the oak frame.

Since one loved feature of the Venus Vaporizer has been the visible vapors inside glass which are illuminated so that they become nicely visible, I started to think is it possible with the pocket model to do the same. And I see two options, one is more compact and the other would keep the looks original.

I could just add an extra glass tube in the package which would be longer, for home use, with an adapter for a tube so that the vape can be used farther away from your face and the light inside tube would show vapors nicely. This option just has the negative side that longer tube would need to be changed and kept somewhere, more loose parts.

Or the other, to make a window to the frame, on top of the herb chamber, so that the glass tube would be visible, there is room for a 30 mm long window there. Now the vapors would be visible even when on the go, without anything extra to insert there. I just have not made this kind of windows so I cannot yet imagine how it would affect the looks, I thought I could put a SS mesh with large holes to make it look more cool without ruining the vapor view too much.

 

[Mr. Me2]

Hello again, and thank you for the supporting messages! I have made some improvements again, but I wanted to ask the public opinion about one feature which is now possible after the recent updates to the rigidity of the oak frame.

Since one loved feature of the Venus Vaporizer has been the visible vapors inside glass which are illuminated so that they become nicely visible, I started to think is it possible with the pocket model to do the same. And I see two options, one is more compact and the other would keep the looks original.

I could just add an extra glass tube in the package which would be longer, for home use, with an adapter for a tube so that the vape can be used farther away from your face and the light inside tube would show vapors nicely. This option just has the negative side that longer tube would need to be changed and kept somewhere, more loose parts.

Or the other, to make a window to the frame, on top of the herb chamber, so that the glass tube would be visible, there is room for a 30 mm long window there. Now the vapors would be visible even when on the go, without anything extra to insert there. I just have not made this kind of windows so I cannot yet imagine how it would affect the looks, I thought I could put a SS mesh with large holes to make it look more cool without ruining the vapor view too much.

I like both ideas but think the window would develop a film. How could the window be cleaned? Based on maintenance, my knee jerk is to not take that route.

Regarding a longer glass tube, I think that's a great option. I wouldn't be too concerned about extra loose parts. But you may want to reach out to a carrying case manufacturer (I suggest Vatra). I bet they could "customize" a case for your Vape that could accommodate this extra piece.

 

[PPN]

Stealth is very important for lot of us around here..

 

[-francois-]

Stealth is very important for lot of us around here..

You are right but even without light I don't think this vaporizer was meant to be stealthy. And even with the shorter glass tube there is light but the glass is too short for your eyes to be able to stare at it.

What about a gong mouthpiece for the longer glass tube ?

 

[Mulehead]

The longer glass tube would work better for my use.
One could get used to the throat feel of desired amount of vapor by being able to see it at home with longer stem.
Like PPN stated above stealth is major for most on the go, and for me especially when it is in a dark situation. I'm afraid the window idea would just end up being another light source to cover with your hand when dark.

Keep up the improvements @villekille2, can't wait to see/try your final product!

 

[villekille2]

Window would not develop a film in itself, window would just show what is going on in the glass tube under it, and I think most people would anyway wish to take their tube out once in a while when it starts to get sticky. Which by the way, didn't seem to happen that quickly since the tube is very wide and vapor don't have much time to condensate there. And the light would not shine trough unless wanted, the setting to turn the "boost light for the tube" is for the user to choose, if he wants to use it or not.

But of course the glow of heating element halogen would anyway somewhat shine trough the window in darkness...so for shealthiness maybe better to leave out the window. It would be positioned so that covering it would not be natural and would require extra care. So I agree the window would make it much more visible that something interesting is going on when surroundings would be dark.

 

[VapeKnight]

I agree with everyones comments regarding the window, but I like the idea of a second longer tube for home use.

 

[tepictoton]

Still like second idea more, and if it is not difficult to implement, why not offer both options (with our without viewing window).

And let me throw in a different voice in regards to stealth...a viewing window might actually make it look more like a box mod...my two cents

 

[Shit Snacks]

Hello again, and thank you for the supporting messages! I have made some improvements again, but I wanted to ask the public opinion about one feature which is now possible after the recent updates to the rigidity of the oak frame.

Since one loved feature of the Venus Vaporizer has been the visible vapors inside glass which are illuminated so that they become nicely visible, I started to think is it possible with the pocket model to do the same. And I see two options, one is more compact and the other would keep the looks original.

I could just add an extra glass tube in the package which would be longer, for home use, with an adapter for a tube so that the vape can be used farther away from your face and the light inside tube would show vapors nicely. This option just has the negative side that longer tube would need to be changed and kept somewhere, more loose parts.

Or the other, to make a window to the frame, on top of the herb chamber, so that the glass tube would be visible, there is room for a 30 mm long window there. Now the vapors would be visible even when on the go, without anything extra to insert there. I just have not made this kind of windows so I cannot yet imagine how it would affect the looks, I thought I could put a SS mesh with large holes to make it look more cool without ruining the vapor view too much.

Yeah I say just offer a long stem for home use, good to have for extra vapor cooling either way. Its also a spare mouthpiece should someone break one to have a back up before a spare can be received. This is what us beta testers recommended for Zion, and how it will ship.

Even cooler, would be a big bulb colored glass mouthpiece or chamber, so at home you really could turn this into a Venus as well. Maybe even with a dock of some kind. Just another way to add overall value for what already seems to be an invaluable vape

 

[vapen00b]

Yeah I say just offer a long stem for home use, good to have for extra vapor cooling either way. Its also a spare mouthpiece should someone break one to have a back up before a spare can be received. This is what us beta testers recommended for Zion, and how it will ship.

Even cooler, would be a big bulb colored glass mouthpiece or chamber, so at home you really could turn this into a Venus as well. Maybe even with a dock of some kind. Just another way to add overall value for what already seems to be an invaluable vape

Hi Ville,


I'd stick with the long stem idea too. Even more I like shits idea with the bulb. Imagine how nice it would be when you just ripped a hugh one and you move away from the MP and you can see that illuminated vapor dancing and sip it off... Kinda lika smoking colt reverse thing. But for stealth option it'd be obligatory to have a led switch.
All in all I like the progress and thoughts about these features a lot! Thanks for your mail also, gonna check it again and see if there's additional points to throw in here too