Seems like any time is tart looking at DIY I throw a bunch of shit in my shopping cart I think I'd need and end up at 100+ dollars. What all do I need to buy to make say a 3mg 60VG 40 PG absinthe vape?
A nicotine base, pg juice vg juice a surince, (those thinks dockters use to inject stuff) this is to measure the amount of pg, vg or nic base and flavours of your choise. A ejuice calculator is recommendet. It calculates the amount of pg, vg and nic according to what you want. The nic base is, well for the amount of nicotine you want, pg gives you flavour and troth hit and vg gives vapor. That's all I think
Please add if I miss anything
One of the best calculators I have found: http://www.e-liquid-recipes.com/
I did find that the resulting nic strength was too strong for me. It vaped harsher than my desired 24 mg content, so I just subtract 1 ml from the base, and add 1 ml to the VG dilutant.
First off, don't buy your PG or VG from a site that sells vaping supplies.They are most likely much more expensive than Amazon. With that said, he's some of the things I used when I first got started.
Then you need gloves and flavoring. The flavoring I can't really help you on because it's all personal preference, but I would get some Ethyl Maltol - it really helps sweeten flavors. The Flavor Apprentice has some, it also goes by "Cotton Candy" if you don't want to dissolve the crystals yourself.
I would recommend ecigexpress.com for the flavoring. It's kind of like a one stop shop. They have flavoring from a bunch of different companies.
Thank you, I was looking at a site that sold flavoring a and it was a bout that much for 250 ml of pg and VG. Do I need any glass lab equipment?
Only if you expect to mix in larger quanity. Like if you need 300ml+ of base a month..
Myself, I mix my juice base up in 200ml+ batches. I have the glass to support this. I also use a (10ml) pippete and pump to pre-fill (12ml)bottles up. When I do the actual flavoring. I use a syringe.
Every month, I mix for three vapers. So I need to mix (ADV) base up, then dilute for each person. Using the same base seed, diluting each round. (27mg, then 17 and finally for me - 8mg.) Having the glass makes it handy, versus using a syringe.
For simpler mixing needs, small batches and testing. Glass is near useless and a waste of funds. The syringes are ideal and, while semi-disposable. Are cost effective, if taken care of.
Pasted from an earlier post...
I'd highly recommend checking out Wizard Labs for your first flavorings. They carry TPA (probably the most popular flavor line) among others and are really cheap. They come in 8ml glass bottles for $1.50 (will make around 125ml of juice), so you can get a bunch and try them out. ...Later, you can buy large quantities of you favorites direct from the flavor vendors themselves.
Also, don't go all mad scientist and buy a bunch of beakers, glass, mixing rods, etc, almost nobody uses it. If I had to do it all over again, here is exactly what I would have bought to start (all from Wizard Labs):
- 120ml 60mg/ml Nicotine Solution (PG)
- 250ml PG
- 250ml VG
- a bunch of 10ml squeeze bottles
- 2-4 1ml syringes (used for flavorants)
- 2-4 20ga needles
- 1 3ml syringe (used for PG or flavorants over 1ml)
- 1 18ga needle
- 1 5ml syringe (used for VG/PG premixing)
- 1 16ga needle
- 1 10ml syringe (Helpful for large batches and/or premixing)
- 1 14ga needle
- a bunch of flavors
That is all you need to mix with the big boys! :)
Two mistakes everyone makes right off the bat:
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Wrap your syringes in clear packing tape or the markings will wipe off damn near immediately.
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Do not use a needle to draw or work with VG, just use the syringe alone. VG is REALLY thick and you'll tear your hair out any other way.
Best of luck!!!
[Edit]
>Do not use a needle to draw or work with VG
i've had no trouble with a 16ga needle.
To each their own. :) Have you tried it without? Perhaps I am just impatient.
Stolen from our "starter kits' page - at the very least hope this guide serves as a good reference:
-50mL 100mg/mL Nicotine Base (PG/VG Ratio is up to you!)
-250mL PG & 250mL VG
-20 nitrile gloves
-1 pair safety glasses
-2 BD sterile 1mL, 5mL, & 10mL sterile syringes
-4 BD sterile 18g blunt-tipped needles
-2 – 14g XL blunt-tipped needles
-10 transfer pipettes
-5 – 5mL concentrated flavorings
-2 – 50mL & 2 – 15mL conical tubes
-3 – 10mL dropper bottles
If you don't see any concentrated of ours that interest you, I know many have been satisfied with Vaping Zone's Concentrated Abinthe ethyl-alcohol based flavor.
I like to buy my base from My Freedom Smokes: http://www.myfreedomsmokes.com/unflavored-nic-liquid/unflavored-nicotine-smoke-juice-e-liquid/ It's decent stuff, and the price is fair. I generally get my flavorings from the same place. http://www.myfreedomsmokes.com/categories/diy-concentrated-flavorings/all-flavorings.html One Stop DIY, IIRC, was a tad cheaper.
I recommend getting a higher nic content and cutting it with VG. CVS carriers decent Glycerin (just found out yesterday).
I do like TFA, FlavorArt is really strong but I still like them. Just watch the percentages on it. I run at least 1% lower than what is recommended.