TinyMight / TM 2

[Pib]

Will you be replacing it with the same or different stem?

I'm thinking about jumping on the j-hook train, at the moment the grav upline taster is doing its job really well.

 

[Shit Snacks]

Good Vibes Boro has new TM stems available, I don't think there were any stem hooks this drop though

 

[davesmith]

Probably not annealed properly. Annealing bungs the price up as it uses a lot of energy for a relatively long time (some things may even anneal for weeks, even months), and this is why a new bit of glass that's cheap, is almost always cheap for a reason. There's really no other way to make glass strong and fairly flaw free. Better to pay more, buy less and choose carefully.

If the stem contained soft glass beads (or some other unknown material) it definitely won’t have been annealed as the soft glass beads would fuse together at the temps used to anneal borosilicate glass.

 

[General Disaster]

If the stem contained soft glass beads (or some other unknown material) it definitely won’t have been annealed as the soft glass beads would fuse together at the temps used to anneal borosilicate glass.

Been a VERY long time since I did glassblowing, and that was basic stuff for wet lab glassware, so I never messed with stuff like beads etc, but I would imagine a competent blower could add the beads after the annealing and then simply add a minor restriction to the inlet path to retain them. In general it's the joints (pun not intended) that have the most need for good annealing.
Also, they could choose beads of a material with a higher melting point than the glass of the device itself, the real problem would be they may stick to that low melting point glass the device is made of.

Also, annealing can be anything from a few minutes in a soft flame, to months in a carefully controlled oven on a gradual reduction of temperature (e.g. with optics to gain a consistent light path). It's about annealing in the correct way for the type of material and it's ultimate use.
My point is simply that better annealing costs money and no way round that, and cheap glass will inevitably not have that correct manufacture and hence be too liable to breakage.

Letting glass cool down naturally in open air will introduce serious flaws and be highly prone to accidents - no competent manufacturer would sell crap like that, but some do, and plenty people buy it then regret it.

 

[davesmith]

Been a VERY long time since I did glassblowing, and that was basic stuff for wet lab glassware, so I never messed with stuff like beads etc, but I would imagine a competent blower could add the beads after the annealing and then simply add a minor restriction to the inlet path to retain them. In general it's the joints (pun not intended) that have the most need for good annealing.
Also, they could choose beads of a material with a higher melting point than the glass of the device itself, the real problem would be they may stick to that low melting point glass the device is made of.

Also, annealing can be anything from a few minutes in a soft flame, to months in a carefully controlled oven on a gradual reduction of temperature (e.g. with optics to gain a consistent light path). It's about annealing in the correct way for the type of material and it's ultimate use.
My point is simply that better annealing costs money and no way round that, and cheap glass will inevitably not have that correct manufacture and hence be too liable to breakage.

Letting glass cool down naturally in open air will introduce serious flaws and be highly prone to accidents - no competent manufacturer would sell crap like that, but some do, and plenty people buy it then regret it.

Sadly adding the beads after then “adding a restriction” will add stress to that part of the piece, as heating it to add the restriction re-introduces stress due to heat and the deformation of the surface.

Ideally you would just use borosilicate balls, the same COE etc of the piece itself. The problem is the production of boro beads is far far more time consuming than soft glass, and even with Chinese manufacturing the difference is noticeable.

Beads made of a material other than boro would be a possibility assuming it’s still annealed, but ofc I can’t comment on that as it’s not my area of expertise. They won’t stick to the boro assuming you don’t heat the boro molten with them in it!

I will just say, import glass serves a purpose and sometimes it’s definitely worth more than what you pay. The main problem is inconsistent QC and lack of attention to detail (unpolished slits in pieces is a personal pet hate). I personally would prefer to support a craftsperson and for something as spiritual as cannabis consumption having pieces made with love means a lot to me. That said I sell aforementioned glassware so don’t take my words as gospel! Whatever works for you and your usage is what works!

 

[General Disaster]

Sadly adding the beads after then “adding a restriction” will add stress to that part of the piece, as heating it to add the restriction re-introduces stress due to heat and the deformation of the surface.

Hence my comment about the joints being the most vulnerable parts. Also parts that may be exposed to high temp changes such as where a cap and head may meet the glass (especially if metal touches glass). But the part near the mouthpiece, for instance, isn't going to receive that much stress unless dropped, the weakness introduced by a gentle softening just to add a small pinch, and then doing a hand-anneal with a low flame is hardly going to be as bad as not annealing the whole thing just so you can add the balls before hand?

But in the end, someone who actually makes these will be best positioned to answer definitively. As I said, I haven't got that experience although I know small scale glass fractionating columns will often use this method of adding after the main anneal.

 

[BabyFacedFinster]

This glass discussion stemmed from questions about the build quality of the rocket stems that are made for devices like the TM. I believe someone else mentioned this, but the beads in the unit I bought from Sneaky Pete look solid with no holes. They are reddish in color, but can't confirm if they are a type of ruby. The glass walls also seem fairly thick for a stem of this type. I've been pretty happy with the function and build quality. I'm sure there are Chinese knock-offs of cheaper quality, since I've seen this design used with other vapes, but SP usually carries good stuff.

In addition, for a jhook experience I would always recommend the 18mm wpa from RogueWW and a matching right angled jhook from OGB. https://oregonglassblower.com/shop/ols/categories/14mm-mouthpieces-and-j-hooks

 

[RustyOldNail]

They are reddish in color, but can't confirm if they are a type of ruby.

Doubt they are real “Ruby”, the price would be higher….

The ones with “holes” are cheap glass designed for making hobby necklaces.