VaporGenie

maremaresing

Well-Known Member
I find it so hard to keep everything angled directly centered and not scorch the wood inside or on the rim. :/ Side note, I find the plastic MP to be really sketchy and don't understand why they haven't updated that in all the time they've sold the device. They really don't innovate or update at all.
 

simba

@weedanwine
I find it so hard to keep everything angled directly centered and not scorch the wood inside or on the rim. :/ Side note, I find the plastic MP to be really sketchy and don't understand why they haven't updated that in all the time they've sold the device. They really don't innovate or update at all.

It's much easier with the Sherlock, but even with my hand carved it's ok as long as it's a short flame and I know the lighter well. But I've still had some accidents and scorched things. I think the choice of bowl piece heavily influences that too.

I agree that the plastic mouthpiece isn't great. I've thought about getting a glass one commissioned, but the way I use my VGs I wouldn't want something so breakable. I might look into getting some wooden ones 🤔

As I said before, they don't innovate but they don't really need to either as it's such a dependable device.
 

Vapenvy

Indie vaper
They need to make a stainless steel base that I can screw my handcarved topper onto. I'd probably use it a lot more.

I am pretty sure they are all interchangeable (except the glass) so you should be able to buy one of the aluminium classic bases for your hand carved. I have one of the aluminium classics (a gift for a friend) and swapped the top with my sherlock hand carved top no problems.

I would highly recommend the bronze sherlock though. It's such a pleasure to use and I find the vapour very cool because of all the bends, and the steel too I suppose.

For me it's the steel coil and bronze sherlock both in high rotation - and always with a torch lighter. Have not used a yellow flame in over 5 years
 

maremaresing

Well-Known Member
The standard original VG was the first vape I ever used, probably early 2008 or 2009. I mentioned I was interested in getting/trying a vape and a guy in the smoke circle brought his VG for me to try. He was so thrilled to find someone else that wanted to get into vapes, let alone knew what one was.

I got the technique down first rip, exhaled what looked like smoke (but wasn't), heard the guy go "YEAH YOU GOT IT THATS IT YES", and then went to freaking space. That was it, and I went out and bought my first vaporizer the next week and the rest is history.

What I'm saying is, yes, the VG works and they have a viable product and it still works as well as it ever did. But they could be doing mild upgrades like mouthpieces or glass intakes or just getting away from questionable materials. The top part works threaded on those old bong/pipe bowls that are threaded, but those are nickel plated which is very unsafe.

All this talk got me to pull out my old VG and take matters into my own hands a bit. I bored out the vaporpath to accept a dynavap intercooler sized rod I had around for making stems. This gave me some cooling and a more cleanable vapor path. For fun, I added an uncut titanium rod and another intercooler to make a huge pipe.


It worked fine, but eventually I fitted a shorter intercooler stem and ditched the outer tube. Fact of the matter is the vapor is like sucking air out of a furnace. It's hot and unpleasant, and the vapor production is just okay. I think vapor production is better and more predictable with soft flames.

Does the bronze sherlock degrade in finish, or leave stains/smells on your hand during use? I keep thinking of it like copper or brass, where people inexplicably like it but it's just the worst thing to hold onto or maintain. For $135, I'm impressed that they haven't raised their prices, but I also am not sure it's competitive at all in any way.
 

maremaresing

Well-Known Member
Waxed wood probably won't hold bacteria and grossness and you can probably iso wipe it and rewax it occasionally. For me, much like seeing people put their mouth directly on the MFLB, it's a big no from me dawg.

You had the metal vgs, which is best case for ditching the plastic MP. I'm probably going to cut down that tube on my VG to protrude an inch, then cut a bit off the titanium tube to make a short metal mouthpiece. Heat from the device aside, that would look good and keep the form factor of the VG.

I wish I could make those twisted metal inserts like simrill has. One running the length of this vapor path would work wonders.
 
maremaresing,

hillbill

Well-Known Member
The Current VG Aluminum really dissipates heat well. It’s almost indestructible.
 
hillbill,

simba

@weedanwine
Does the bronze sherlock degrade in finish, or leave stains/smells on your hand during use? I keep thinking of it like copper or brass, where people inexplicably like it but it's just the worst thing to hold onto or maintain. For $135, I'm impressed that they haven't raised their prices, but I also am not sure it's competitive at all in any way.

Yes you get a patina on the bronze sherlock, sounds like it's not something you would like. I'd never noticed any smell on my hands before, but I just checked and smelled more closely and there was a little hint of something.
 
simba,

solian

Well-Known Member
This sounds a bit like a sticky brick, before the junior etc came out with a bent intake making it easier to not burn?
I read pure convection vapes are the tastiest if you can perfect the method, love to try one.
 

simba

@weedanwine
This sounds a bit like a sticky brick, before the junior etc came out with a bent intake making it easier to not burn?
I read pure convection vapes are the tastiest if you can perfect the method, love to try one.

If you wanna try one at low cost then put a wanted ad on the classifieds. I'm sure there are quite a few folks with a VG in the drawer that would be happy to sell for a reasonable price.

I found a cheap coloured VG for around £45 to try one out and then ended up buying a hand-carved and bronze Sherlock.
 

maremaresing

Well-Known Member
Tie me to the mast, the VAS Sirens sing a song so sweet!!! I have a glass mini sherlock in my cart currently that I'll probably pull the trigger on before the day is done. If it works as well as the handcarved, I'll be very happy.

Speaking of the handcarved, it won my heart again this weekend. I was bed bound in immense pain and, in spite of many portables in reach, the VG was all I used. A full bowl lasts forever, and I get easy lung busting hits with a soft flame lighter.

I cut things down a bit, recessed the vapor pathway, and pressed in a Simrell intercooler to tame the heat.


Looking back through the thread for info on other models, I noticed the last time I "rediscovered" the VG I had the same assessment I do now. Namely, the experience and hit reminds me of early days smoking with a small bowl. Instead of heat and smoke, it's the lemon/pine terps scouring my throat! And goodness the vapor is very potent and full spectrum.
 

maremaresing

Well-Known Member
So, I'm pretty obsessed with the VG at this point. Absolutely impressed with the device and how well it performs, and totally addicted to the user experience. Though very analog, the technique is easy to pick up for basic operation. From there it's just a little minigame of dancing the flame closer to get the biggest cloud possible. Plus, it has fire! (which pleases some primal part of my brain.)

In the scope of vaporizers that emulate traditional combustion methods, I think VG's interaction between flame and bowl gets the closest.

I picked up the Glass Mini Sherlock over a month ago, and have greatly enjoyed it since. It's been used most days in some format or another, and is a definite step up from my Handcarved. Like other VG products I've used, it slaps hard and provides full spectrum "combustion like" effects. It requires a bit more of a heat source to get the most out of, but has the capacity to deliver hits that give other direct butane vapes a run for their money.

For instance, the Handcarved likes a 3/4 to 1 inch soft flame, but the Mini Sherlock works best with a 1.25 to 2 inch flame. Just hold the lighter further back and don't let the flame touch the heat exchanger.


I did however do a little mod to the Mini Sherlock to unlock it's full potential. It's designed with the screen sitting loose at the bottom of the "herb cavern". This area can hold a lot of herb, and I imagine you could put a gram in here and it would work wonderfully (with lots of stirring). But normally you just fill that little space with some herb and it does generate lots of clouds as designed.

It also lets ground ABV in around the screen when you stir, because the screen is smaller than the diameter of the chamber. It just shifts around and eventually you suck bits into your mouth when you use it. Plus it gets dirty fast.

After cleaning the device well, I removed the smaller screen at the bottom, and fitted a 3/4 inch screen into the groove right below the frosted joint. This is a "perfect" fit, meaning it fits right and flush in that groove, and doesn't move. Even vigorous stirring doesn't budge it, and no abv gets past except a little powder that makes it's way through the screen.


You can still load about .3 in with the heater top still fitting nicely, and having the herb closer to the heat exchanger matches how it is on the Handcarved.

The "oven" chamber below now becomes an abv dust catch and heat tamer, before vapor passes into the uhook section of the piece. Look at my first picture, and see how clean the reclaim is that is building up after bunch of use with this mod. Vapor temps went from steamy warm to nuetral, and I can get larger clouds easier.

Given how much I enjoy DIY and playing with modularity or reconfiguration, I love that the heater top follows glass joint connector standards. It's cut short, so a 3/4 inch screen jammed into any 18mm Female connector gives you a whole new VG device!


Every piece comes with it's own vibe, which is delightful. A piece with a carb lets you pause for cool air without letting the heat exchanger cool down or moving the lighter. Fun.

I love VG Mini Sherlock and Grav Sherlock pieces, but I just modified this gandalf yesterday to fit this injector and it's awesome and my new favorite thing:


Almost a foot long of heavy hand blown cobalt glass means you don't think you are getting vapor until you exhale a room filling cloud. I'm enamored. It's huge and the VG top is at perfect comfortable eyeline for flame monitoring.


So yeah, I'm really into these Vaporgenies and am 99% sure I'll buy a Stainless Steel Bat soon.
 

hillbill

Well-Known Member
Run a little water on it while covering holes. You can wipe dew on it and wave it around to cool. First, blow through the flame hole for a few seconds as 98* air can absorb a lot of heat from the inside. I press mine on ice from my cooler for a few seconds also, very quickly cools.
 

simba

@weedanwine
Run a little water on it while covering holes. You can wipe dew on it and wave it around to cool. First, blow through the flame hole for a few seconds as 98* air can absorb a lot of heat from the inside. I press mine on ice from my cooler for a few seconds also, very quickly cools.
Yeah I've read these tips before, but I don't wanna use a vape where I have to resort to things like that.
 
simba,

maremaresing

Well-Known Member
The bats look cool af but you know they're getting red hot
😂


Even with the Stainless Steel Bat?
Even when it's 2 or 3 rips at a time?

I can see an aluminum bat getting that warm, and according to @hillbill the aluminum base of the standard pipe doesn't get too hot to hold. Sure, on those the heat exchanger is separate in an insulator like wood, but the hot convection air is being forced directly into the base where you hold it. On aluminum, I'd expect that part to get very hot.

A big chunk of stainless steel should soak up a lot of heat energy before releasing it to the outside. My SS Coil never got more than pleasantly warm. Nice to roll around your hand. Comforting.

Anyway, I'm a curious person with asbestos fingers and I cannot hold myself back from an SS bat any longer. I DO expect to need to install a heat tamer in the vapor path, like a metal twist or something. That's a problem I look forward to solving.
 
maremaresing,
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Perfect_Speed4069

I am the beetle in a box that only you can see
I've never tried the coil or bat style but been curious. They seem a bit too small so they'd get very hot?

The glass bat though is so cool and I've very nearly bought it a few times.
So, did you? I have zero experience of the VG range, and tbh, a very vague sense of how it might be heated. The instructions are... open to a number of interpretations, and curiously, the video doesn't even show it in use.
 
Perfect_Speed4069,

simba

@weedanwine
Nope still not bought a bat but regularly use my other VGs. Heating for the bat I would do the same as any other VG., torch lighter towards the ceramic stone and toke accordingly.
 

maremaresing

Well-Known Member
I've had my SS Bat since April, and simply haven't been able to post a review and pictures yet. I am really sensitive to hot air/vapor, and even had to modify my handcarved to cut the heat down, so I found the SS bat to be uncomfortably/painfully hot out of the box. Now that I made a thermal twist/double helix thing for the short vapor path, it works great and is so much fun to use.

Plus, it gets me as blitzed as that first vaporizing experience with the classic VG did back in the day. Honestly, all these VG's get me crazy high in a different way than I've experienced with other vapes. I don't understand, but I love it.

And, as hillbill said, it's really easy to use. I do like that the design makes it easy to use a soft flame in a windy area, or with a ceiling fan running.

Does anyone know the exact threading the VG uses? I've tried M16 and 5/8, and maybe haven't gotten a fine enough thread. Would love to cobble together some attachments and stems for it. I know the oldskool threaded metal pipes work, but those are all made of questionable materials.
 
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spruce

New Member
This thread made me bust out mine tonight. I have the old nonremovable filter style genie, bought last year on entexchange for $25. It came full of tar from combustion and while I've deeply cleaned it it'll never taste great. But damn does it RIP. I forget how addicting it is to get those perfect smooth rips.

Has anyone here done the ball mod with 3mm rubies smushed in a filter beneath the filter?
 

Vapenvy

Indie vaper
Nope still not bought a bat but regularly use my other VGs. Heating for the bat I would do the same as any other VG., torch lighter towards the ceramic stone and toke accordingly.
I have a SS coil, bronze sherlock and the regular wooden one and love them. Use them all the time like a Vape Ninja using torch lighter. SS coil was my first vape around a decade ago!

Having said that My mate has a couple of bats that I just can't get on with. I find them very difficult to use and impossible with a torch lighter because you can't direct the torch directly at the filter. It hits the side first making the vape hot very quickly and less good hits.

The only way to use it (for us) was with a yellow flame....but then you can't properly open the vape to clean the soot out so really not ideal for me, as I prefer a torch flame because it works better and is much much tastier and cleaner without the soot from a yellow flame.
 

simba

@weedanwine
The only way to use it (for us) was with a yellow flame....but then you can't properly open the vape to clean the soot out so really not ideal for me, as I prefer a torch flame because it works better and is much much tastier and cleaner without the soot from a yellow flame.
Yeah I'm not about using soft/yellow flame lighters for reasons discussed on other threads.
 
simba,
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