Gear Titanium nails dangerous?

vapor33

Well-Known Member
Anyone have any good info on this? I just heard about them not being seasoned right and they can oxidize and release harmful chemicals. BS or what?
 
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vapor33,

mestizo

Well-Known Member
I'm not a proponent of Titanium nail, I believe there are better metal choices out there, having said that, I don't see any harmful elements in the composition of pure grade Titaniums.
H, C, O, N, Fe and of course Titanium.
 

Caligula

Maximus
OP has qualms with oxidation of Ti, which can and will happen at the temps one typically sees when using traditional Ti nails:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0022508861900017

As you can see, the result is the formation of TiO2 (titanium dioxide), which may or may not be carcinogenic:

http://www.ccohs.ca/headlines/text186.html

Now the question remains whether or not any of this occurs in any amount which may potentially pose some sort of health risk, assuming TiO2 is carcinogenic. I don't think anyone knows, or has studied this so :shrug:

In any regard (IMO) high temp pure convection dabs > old skool nail dabs any day of the week.


 
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mestizo

Well-Known Member
You are right, he questions the safety of TiO2 (titanium dioxide), I personally have not studied the subject and will be the first time I find out two safe elements coming together becoming dangerous, on the other hand, two unsafe chemicals can become safe for consumption when mix together, like table salt for example.
 
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mestizo,

vapor33

Well-Known Member
@Caligula - That first video is great. Never really thought about that actually being better than the traditional way of taking a "dab".

I was just wondering because I just got a nail and I seasoned it by heating it up and then putting it in cold water and then repeating and then taking a little bit of reclaim and putting it on there hot and letting it melt it. Then the nail changed colors and some of the reclaim stuck to it so I was just worried that I ruined the nail or something.
 
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darkrom

Great Scott!
My answer to this question is....why not quartz? Because it doesn't last as long as titanium? Get a spare and STILL save a bunch of money.

I have 2 quartz nails for my dome setups, and 3 domeless quartz nails on their way. All of that cost less than a questionable chinese titanium nail, and worst case I break one and bust out a spare. If I break them all (not gunna happen) I can just get more for short money.


I switched because quartz seems to heat up faster and taste better in my personal opinion. I don't miss the TI nail other than missing one more piece of titanium in my collection . I just like the metal itself, but I've got my TI dabbers to play with and heat with the torch to make cool colors. The quartz nails just seem to be the simple answer IMO. Nothing wrong with dabbing off quartz and it is cheaper. Win win.
 

Caligula

Maximus
Also yes. BTW I sort of like the idea of these Hive ceramic nails. Sure they will break over 6 months to a year or so but at only $50... who is really going to bitch? Ive spent way more than that for a gram of premium oil.
 

mvapes

Scratchin' Glass!
Accessory Maker
IMO quartz and boro kill the flavor of Ti. While we wait on the Hive's to launch you guy's might want to look into Halen Honey Holes. A little pricey but one of the best tools I've ever used. I'm also starting to shy away from the HE stuff, not that I don't like it but I've started buying T-Power stuff and they're fucking incredible. Their Ti DOES NOT change any color after use.
 

vapor33

Well-Known Member
So, if the Ti changes color, is that bad? Or is that totally normal?

@darkrom - Can you recommend a good place to order a quartz nail from? Or a good brand?
 
vapor33,

darkrom

Great Scott!
Sorry I actually can't suggest a brand. I got some random quartz cheapos at my headshop. On ebay I found 3 quartz domeless nails for $20 shipped lol. Those are on their way. How can you go wrong at less than $10 a pop?

And titanium will change color when its hit with heat. Totally normal. Check out titanium exhausts on cars/motorcycles. Looks awesome!


arkevot2__53520.1350941176.1280.1280.JPG
 
darkrom,
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mvapes

Scratchin' Glass!
Accessory Maker
So, if the Ti changes color, is that bad? Or is that totally normal?

@darkrom - Can you recommend a good place to order a quartz nail from? Or a good brand?

Dude - Look up a halen honey hole, I promise - there ain't a better quartz nail around. There sold at the following:

http://headdyglass.bigcartel.com/product/halen-quartz-honey-hole

http://www.thedablab.com/halen-hone...w-10mm-female-joint-fits-in-10mm-male-joints/

The changing color isn't going to hurt you. And no, not all Ti will change color when heated. If your using true medical grade V2 or V3 Ti it won't chang like a Highly Educated. I also have about 10 nails, non of which I ever seasoned.

Keep em clean, don't buy knock off shit and you'll be fine. Take it from someone who drops at least 30 dabs a day.

@darkrom - you know in most cases name brand doesn't matter but when it comes to something I'm about to put an 800 degree flame on prior to inhaling it. Knock offs don't make feel so confident. When a deal seems too good to be true, that's because it probably is brother.

I'm only offering advice to help.
 

mlo4sho

Well-Known Member
Something about Ti nails rub me the wrong way. Don't get me wrong I still use my Ti nails, but I've come to MUCH prefer glass over Ti. It just seems cleaner and tastes great every time, not just at low temps. Quartz has a sort of "plasticy" taste to me. Maybe I've never broken my quartz nails in enough so I'm still tasting the fresh quartz, but they definitely give a strange taste compared to glass. They are also cheap quartz domeless nails, not sure if that matters. I would use glass 100% of the time but I have yet to find a really nice glass nail. The one I have is very small so you can only do tiny dabs or it will melt all over the nail/cool down too quickly if you try to do a big dab slowly.
 
Man, bad information being passed in here... Medical grade titanium is grade 5, an alloy with aluminum and other metals. It is used inside the body for bone screws because it is stronger than a commercially pure titanium.

Conventional wisdom has it that CP grade 2 is what is best for dabbing (grade 1 is too soft). That is what legitimate US companies make their nails out of. If someone is accusing a pioneering, reputable and respected company such as Highly Educated of making their products of anything less, I would like to see the evidence.
 

zymos

Well-Known Member
You are right, he questions the safety of TiO2 (titanium dioxide), I personally have not studied the subject and will be the first time I find out two safe elements coming together becoming dangerous, on the other hand, two unsafe chemicals can become safe for consumption when mix together, like table salt for example.

Carbon, in all organic matter, safe.
Nitrogen, almost 80% of the air we breath, safe.
CN = cyanide, not so safe.
 

mestizo

Well-Known Member
Grade 5 Titanium has Vanadium in it too. Vanadium is toxic if inhaled in powder for or fumes. I guess if it is going to be implanted in your body you don't have to worry about it, but heating it and inhaling the fumes, that's a different story.
There is at least one popular manufacturer out there that makes their gear out of grade five.
 

mestizo

Well-Known Member
Carbon, in all organic matter, safe.
Nitrogen, almost 80% of the air we breath, safe.
CN = cyanide, not so safe.
I don't think Cyanide is made of carbon and nitrogen. Let me google that.

Edit: you are right, it is. Thanks.
 
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mvapes

Scratchin' Glass!
Accessory Maker
boote - that's not correct. Grades one through 4 are completely based on oxygen content not purity. Yes ACTUAL surgical grade titanium is measured differently but there are compounds like small amounts of aluminum within.

I wasn't stating something other than at one time I thought HE was the TITS. There's alot more out there, some better - most worse. Ti-Power, HT, all mention medical grading in their advertisements. Hence why I bought their stuff. And guess, no change in color, no sighn of ware, and they seem to hold up better than highly educated.

Did I ever bash a company? No! I just said stay weary of fucking cheap knock off shit.

And if you see the link that I added - they had nothing to do with titanium period!

Sorry everyone for passing around bad info!
 

darkrom

Great Scott!
Hey man that exhaust I posted was ARK. Big $$$ Japanese stuff!

But back on topic I love playing with titanium, but I love dabbing off quartz. My GLASS nail crumbled today at room temp after not being used for a week, and used maybe 3 times. I can't help but wonder if shitty glass nails throw a lot of people off of quartz nails? My quartz nails so far none have broke and I've even heated them with a propane torch just to see what they can take and because I wanted to clean them faster lol. NO problems with them yet and they are the cheapest quartz nails I can find. Flavor was good enough to sell my got vape titanium torpedo nail and never look back.
 

Caligula

Maximus
Yea, I know. ARK makes shit for my car too. Funny though, the US variants not only work better, but cost 1/3 as much.

Anyhoo... do you get any off taste w/ the quartz nail?
 
Caligula,

mvapes

Scratchin' Glass!
Accessory Maker
I love quartz and boro. The way you can tell the difference is if she don't glow she's boro! lol, seriously all boro is is pyrex. @darkrom I've had a bunch of quartz domeless nails, love em - one place I used to buy em from would break all the time. The ones I get from a different lhs are like fucking tanks but the tend to lose their color and start to oxidize after a while.

Now the Honey holes are fucking sick. Not only is the intake (hole) huge (gigitty) but their like 5 millimeters thick.

Now I forgot to mention the SCS - not only are they fucking awesome but they don't lose color as much as other either. I know they also are releasing a Dab Essential head for the Omni Nail. Could be big boys...
 

next level

Well-Known Member
I love quartz and boro. The way you can tell the difference is if she don't glow she's boro! lol, seriously all boro is is pyrex. @darkrom I've had a bunch of quartz domeless nails, love em - one place I used to buy em from would break all the time. The ones I get from a different lhs are like fucking tanks but the tend to lose their color and start to oxidize after a while.

Now the Honey holes are fucking sick. Not only is the intake (hole) huge (gigitty) but their like 5 millimeters thick.

Now I forgot to mention the SCS - not only are they fucking awesome but they don't lose color as much as other either. I know they also are releasing a Dab Essential head for the Omni Nail. Could be big boys...
I am a boro man myself. They can glow, but you have to get them crazy hot.

Pyrex has not been made out of Boro in the US since 1998 when Corning sold the Pyrex brand to World Kitchen. It is now tempered Soda-lime glass. I just ordered new Pyrex from Europe as its still Boro over there.
 
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