Ill do the basics , which is about all I know anyway. Please dont look at this as a bible or set in stone way of doing things
First you have to get a calculator that will use weight, I suggest the this guy from the side bar
You will also need a scale that can measure at least .01 grams I started off with this one It will be a good idea to get a weight to calabrate your scale. I think that one needed a 500g but not 100% sure. A nickel weighs 5 grams so there is aways a quick way to see if your scale is off if you dont have a weight by you.
If you think you are going to really start using weight I would suggest picking up these pips. I picked them up on sale and with prime its free shipping. I can use these guys once and toss them if I want or clean them but thats a pain in the ass.
Squeze bottles are also a good idea, If you are buying flavor in high amounts you can always just get a squeeze bottle cap and add it to the bottle, no need for pips or cleaning. If you are still rocking the little drams from Wizard labs its not worth it but still use the pips. Also I fill up to squeeze bottles with VG in one and my PG in another. Its also handy to do this if you are mixing in a bottle with the right size, you want to make 10ml and you have a 10ml bottles. You add your flavor,nic,then pg , All you have left is your VG so why bother weighing the shit out or use a syringe just fill the fucking bottle up with Vg. Sure it might be off but a little bit, but it will only be by a % or 2, so you might get stuck with a 52-48% blend, THE HORROR!!!!
In the calculator you have to set your weight for everything you will be using. The basics are the PG, VG, NIC , Flavor.
http://i.imgur.com/BbrqWwl.png
PG: 1.036 g/ml
VG: 1.261 g/ml
Vodka: 0.938 g/ml
Flavor: 1 g/ml ( average of PG based flavor)
Here is a good is a link for a good way to test the lvl of your nic. Mistakes happen , if you are messing with high levels Id suggest testing it first with this kit http://www.eliquidtest.com/
Your nic will come in PG or VG so your simply weigh it by what it comes in as . 100mg nic in PG weighs 1.036 grams per 1ml. Allot of people like max VG blends so getting your nic if VG is not a bad idea.
Flavor is a give or take when it comes to weight but it really doesn't matter. 1gram of Strawberry could be 1.02 ml and 1 gram of banana ripe could be .98ml. I set all my flavor at 1gram=1ml. It doesn't matter what any one else sets it at because I am only using my own weight for reference
People mix in different orders but I always add my flavoring first, then additives like em or sour then my nicotine the PG then VG.
Use this for reference during the next part, Cowboyblend 5ml batch 6mg\nic.. http://i.imgur.com/IkfAJzY.png
A simple way of weighing is to zero out your scale. With the scale reading zero put your bottle , when the numbers stop moving on the scale and hit the TAR button it should read zero again. Next step is to add in the flavor, since I am making cowboy blend Ill add in .500 (.5ml which is 10%) grams of CowBoyTFA. Start adding the cowboy at a slow pace till it reaches .500 grams ( if its your first time with that flavor and don't know how it tastes and you fuck up and add .600 grams simply adjust the percentage on the calculator to reflect that or just suck the bitch back out and try again).
Next step is to hit that awesome Tar button and zero that scale out again, with it reading zero you can now add your Nicotine.0311 grams for 6mg of nic in a 5ml bottle ( I use 100mg nic because its cheaper)
Zero that shit out again and add your PG too 1.761 grams. Remember if you mess up adding in to much pg you can't suck it out since its mixed with flavor and nic simply adjust the ratio on the calculator to reflect your fuck up.
Zero it out again and add your VG to 3.153 grams . If your bottle is 5ml and you are only making 5ml of ejuice just fill the bitch up with vg till its full.(not always accurate)
Now shake that bitch up and let it cure if you want.
IMO using weight is allot more accurate and x1000 faster.
You can also add your additives into little 30ml bottles http://i.imgur.com/S6YVc4y.jpg . I still measure them by drops since its always 1-2 drops per 10ml.
I made 300ml of a dr.pepper energy drink mix today in about 2 mins, pop'd the bitch on a left over stirplate from my home brewing days and it was done in minutes
Also its weight is good if you are using woodchips. Instead of using a cupfull I can weight out how much woodchips I used that was if this woodchip steep works I can use the same ammount by weight again
http://imgur.com/a/hoNmr
****This is riddled with spelling and grammar mistakes, Its getting late and my one month old has been crying and cock blocking me all night. I also am a 80% disabled vet from a couple of concussions I got while I was in my math and grammar sucks now because of it. please dont hold it against me. I will do my best to clean this post up and answer any questions you might have ****
> Flavor is a give or take when it comes to weight but it really doesn't matter. 1gram of Strawberry could be 1.02 ml and 1 gram of banana ripe could be .98ml. I set all my flavor at 1gram=1ml. It doesn't matter what any one else sets it at because I am only using my own weight for reference
That's way off base of alcohol-based flavorings, like the VZ SC line. Yes, using 1g=1ml will work, but you can't use other people's recipes like this, nor can you share your own with others without telling them this. IMO, mixing by weight is to make things as accurate and repeatable as possible. Assigning made-up values is pretty much the antitheses of that.
I'd really recommend if one wants to get started in measuring by weight that you take the time to weigh the flavors. A lot of places (like FW, TPA/TFA, etc..) publish MSDS sheets for their flavors that have SG listed right on them, so you don't even need to physically weigh those.
Always, always, weigh your own nicotine, especially if you're using a high concentration. Screwing up flavor weights/measurements will just result in a bad taste if you mess up. Nicotine can kill you, pets, kids, etc.
As an alternative to the scale mentioned by the OP, I'd recommend this unit, along with 100g/200g weights to calibrate it yourself.
http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/jennings-jt-2-350.html
Most people are not using highly concentrated alcohol based flavorings.... The norm is pretty much PG based and some with alcohol in it. 1.04 or 1.00 or .98 per gram of ripe banana is gonna taste the same
>Assigning made-up values is pretty much the antitheses of that.
Not at all. I could say 1ml=500 grams or 1ml=.123123 grams its still going to use the same amount to mix. Eveyones might be different but some one using a syringe\drops and list a recipe is going to be just as much off as the next guy , The .04 difference in pg based flavors isnt gonna matter. If you are making 500ml of the shit then yah , but by then you already have the flavor set at what you want anyway.
I used that scale before too, its pretty nice. I then upgraded to this guy just so I can have the bubble level. I breath on the thing to much and it can toss the weight off. One day http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/my-weigh-ibalance-601.html
I understand what you are saying tho.
Yeah, I would love to have an enclosure. Maybe if I ever start selling.
So.. I can get one of those scales because my mother mixes mineral makeup by weight, and I'm pretty sure she has like 5 of them.
With that, I can basically put my flavorings in dropper bottles and stop using syringes all together?
Also, being that I have TFA flavors I can just look up the SG (Specific Gravity I'm assuming?) and that's the weight to ml conversions for the flavor?
As an example, I just looked up there first flavor and it shows,
Specific Gravity (H20 = 1) 0.985
Does that mean 1ml = 0.985g? Sorry for the questions a bit late haha. I'm new to all this, and this just seems like a way more efficient way to do things.
Yes to everything, for the most part. Just make sure you use weight and not #of drops if you move to dropper bottles. I still use syringes myself for the larger bottles, but it doesn't really matter what you do as long as you're looking at weight measurement, and not volume.
You'll find most of the SG for flavors to be around 1 since they're usually in PG solutions. Some places (like VZ) sell some in alcohol bases which will be lighter, in the 0.8 range.
It only becomes a pain when you don't have an MSDS sheet, and then you need to weight out a known volume. Best to do a few tries and average it out. I'm still in the process of weighing a lot of stuff myself.. When I run into a recipe that doesn't have an MSDS sheet flavor, I just take the time to weight it beforehand.