I just switched to By weight after reading Botboys guide to mixing on the same and boy oh boy is it clean.
I used to make so much mess when mixing that I had almost given up on diy but after a few batches of 15 mils and one batch of 150, I am never going back to syringes and cylinders.
To anyone new to this, please please please don't buy syringes, needles, cylinders, just get yourself a good scale and you will thank botboy just like I am thanking him now.
Thank you /u/botboy141
Link to the guide please? :)
im glad I asked around before purchasing supplies. /u/botboy141 told me to mix by weight and it was the best decision.
On a side note, I love mixing(by weight) into beakers. I hardly even bottle anymore, unless it's a confirmed recipe of mine.
Beakers sound awesome actually. From where did you procure said glassware?
I think i got them from US Plastics, but their bottles suck so it's not even worth ordering from them cuz shipping is ridiculous.
I'm probably going to pickup these from Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Beaker-Set-Karter-Scientific/dp/B008VEHLBI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424912874&sr=8-1&keywords=glass+beakers
$5.99 for 3 sizes in glass, free shipping if you have prime, can't beat that.
Make sure to pickup some stirrers too like these maybe
http://www.amazon.com/Heathrow-Scientific-HD15909-Spatula-Overall/dp/B0061OT1A4/ref=sr_1_4?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1424913006&sr=1-4&keywords=glass+stirrer
can you just pour into a beaker to measure by weight if you don't want to use syringes at all?
Yes sir, most of the flavoring bottles come with a dripper, if you are using WizardLabs vials, you can use disposable pipettes which are pretty cheap when you buy by box.
Get good 250 mil dripper bottles for your nic, VG, pg and you never have to deal with syringes ever again, I promise.
A bunch of my flavours were in vials when I switched to mixing by weight. I just bought a ton of 30mL PET dripper bottles from Fasttech and transferred everything into them. Took a bit of time but was worth the effort, IMO.
If you are going to be keeping flavors on hand it's best to transfer your flavors to glass. There is a thread some where that has this info in it. The info came straight from TFA/TPA. I'll see if I can find it and post the link.
Yes, that guide was extremely helpful! I made the switch about a month ago myself, and just today, I transferred all my flavorings to dropper bottles. It's made a huge difference in the time it takes to mix up flavorings, especially the clean up portion. I also made an excel spreadsheet to calculate the weights based on that guide (I prefer it to the calculators available online).
I look forward to sharing some recipes once I fine tune something original... but now I feel like I have a streamlined process, much of which is thanks to that guide.
Curious what dropper bottles you put your flavorings in. I've got 4oz bottles from TFA with no spare droppers laying around that I could use.
http://www.containerandpackaging.com/item/L380
I'm thinking these will fit right onto the 4oz bottles. I have some small bottles of PG/VG at home that I'll check tonight and report back.
right now, I'm just using some of the few hundred disposable pipettes I have laying around.
His guide really got me excited, as it solved the biggest complaints I had about DIY.
Scale is in the mail currently... as are beakers and a magnetic stirrer kit, but that's a different story altogether.
I do wish I'd started with this route rather than with the traditional starter kit.
Screw the beakers, I mix by weight directly into 4oz mason jars.
The best way to mix is still by volume, considering you can just eyeball VG and PG by funneling it straight into bottles. Can drip into a grad cylinder too for a exact fast measurement, or buy 100 syringes for 10 dollars w blunt tips. ETC. Mixing by weight is just simply too slow.
My only issue with mix-by-weight is that it's harder to use with smaller volumes... like, say 10ML or less. I like mixing smaller quantities to "try" things out before I make 30ml. Wasting any kind of juice seems.... wasteful to me.
Also, the scale I got is the spawn of the devil - all over the place, and it's trouble to get it to behave and show that the weight has indeed increased when I add each drop.
ITT: ppl trying to justify spending $200+ on fancy scales and ultrasonic cleaners. Thats like 3 years worth of juice or something get real
$30 != $200
Yeah anyway you didn't convince me it was better and I don't think a newbie should start by mixing by weight. No ones going to spend $30 for a scale when beginner mixing kits are cheaper or the same price. No one who's intimidated by starting DIY is going to jump right in with a more complicated method of mixing. Also some ppl aren't anal about an insignificant difference in accuracy batch to batch by mixing with syringe. In fact, I get bored of juice fast I welcome any degree of change, even though it is unnoticeable and I challenge anyone who claims they can taste a difference; youre a liar. Also why were you mixing with cylinders in the first place, why not mix directly into the bottle you're going to use?
I never mentioned anything about the accuracy, although it helps when trying out different things. If I am trying to perfect my concoction, its easier to replicate if you are accurate and consistent every time you make an adjustment to your juice. This especially holds true for very strong flavor concentrates if you are mixing .2/.5 % and the volume comes out to be 0.04 ml. But again, my post was never about accuracy as the beginners aren't really going to try out complex mixes on their first or second go.
30$ for a scale that was in /u/botboy141's guide, I personally bought a cheaper scale 500g/0.01g for 15 off of ebay, which has a little lag but I can definitely make do with wasting a fraction of a second. Moreover, people are going to buy or not buy ultrasonic cleaners either ways, its their choice, I personally bought a milk frother for $6 and give my juice 4 hot water baths whipping them every time, I never advocated buying a fancy ultrasonic cleaner or hot plate stirrer.
I was using volumetric cylinders to measure out VG in my larger batches where its a pain in the ass to pull that thick thick liquid in a syringe. And if you wanted to mix directly into the bottle you are going to use, why use recipes at all? Why not just eyeball everything?
My main beef with by volume was the mess it makes, cleaning up syringes, cleaning up all the mess, it becomes tedious, and what makes you think its complex? Have you even tried it? Its putting values in a calculator, throwing flavors, pg, vg, nic in the beaker until the scale shows the target weight, hitting tare and moving on to the next flavor.
I switched a few weeks ago after reading the guide by /u/botboy141 and it turned my DIY world around. Not having to deal with all of those syringes and other supplies made it so much easier.
Now I just mix my juice in a beaker, when it's finished I put it on the hot plate stirrer and let it go for about 4 hours, pretty simple.
Where did you get the hot plate stirrer?
I shopped around and they were all too expensive for me, so I got a cheapish diy kit magnetic stirrer (pc fan + switch) and plan on doing the following:
- Stirrer for 3 minutes
- Hot water bath
- Back on the stirrer
Hopefully that will allow me to get the same/similar results without the $150+ of the hot plate stirrer... unless you found a better deal than I was able to.