Hello! I hope this is okay to post here. My partner recently got into making ejuice for the both of us, and has a pretty basic setup so far. He's got PG/VG, nicotine, and flavorings covered. I was hoping I could get some recommendations on gifts for him, are there any tools in your juice-making arsenal that you swear by? Thanks!
Bottles. More bottles.
SO MUCH THIS. I've been through 100s and 100s of bottles even though I re-use them. Fact of the matter is, most people are going to lose them or throw them away instead of giving them back to you. Just buy a shitload of bottles, like 5 times more than you think you'll ever need. I almost guarantee you will have to re-order bottles no matter how many you decide is enough. Make sure you do your research to ensure you're getting exactly what you want, because there are tons of different options when it comes to bottles.
/u/EmpressKitten
This did come to mind, but since he's still testing recipes what size do you think would be good? Something like 10ml or 30ml? :)
I test individual flavors with 10ml, and I'm always using 30ml and 60ml for myself and my friends. Find out if he prefers PET or LDPE plastic. Amber glass is great for long steeps, like tobaccos.
Id recommend 30ml or 60ml more than any other size because I always end up mixing batches about half the size of the max capacity, that way there's room to shake up the bottle to mix while steeping.
10ml are reserved for giving samples to people
Got a scale? And more flavors. Always more flavors. Getting some nail polish racks to organize my Flavors was really nice. Then I got more flavors and they still ended up randomly on my desk.
I just sort similar flavors into zipper bags and store them in shoe/boot boxes. I'm up to 3 boxes now.
I had all my stuff organized by company and then alphabetical, but every time I order flavors I gotta shift shit around. I just sorta try to remember what area everything is in on the desk and it’s not too bad. I think I’m gonna have to split up the tobaccos and non tobaccos though. But 80% of my flavors are tobaccos so that will only help a little.
I just did this over the last weekend.
I had everything sorted by company, and kinda had an idea as to where everything was. Finally decided to go through it all and break it down into fruits, dairies, bakeries, etc. When I was done with that and it still wasn't enough, I broke them into sub groups (FRUITS: Berries, Citrus, Melons etc.)
I think I have almost as much fun just looking at the bottles for inspiration as I do actually mixing.
OK, I stick all my concentrate bottles in a big toolbox. I made up my own category list and I store all the bottles from the same category in a plastic bag:
- Fruits (the largest category)
- Drinks (anything from whisky to soda flavors go here)
- Vanillas (any creamy or non creamy vanilla flavor goes here and I have a bunch of them)
- Creams (bavarian cream, sweet cream, yogurts...)
- Tobaccos.
- Bakeries (pie crust, graham cracker, vanilla cupcake, caramel...)
- Additives (koolada, sweetener, triacetin...)
- Odd stuff (spices, coconut, hard candy, eucalyptus...)
That seems about right. So, when I mix, I only have to remember on which category is the flavoring I need, so I look for it in that category bag. It's quicker to look for a bottle among 20 or 50, instead of going through 100+. And when I'm done, I just re-categorize them, bag them, stick them in the box, and take them back to the dark, cool corner where I store it.
This works for me especially since I live in a 50m2 apartment and don't have a space to leave them out indefinitely, or to display them on racks.
Something like this may work for you if you can make your own categories, maybe?
Ultrasonic cleaner, it won't be better, but it'll eat at his soul until he knows for himself.
I hope op didn't take this suggestion to heart. Ten seconds of research will tell you an ultrasonic cleaner is a huge waste of money.
no it's realy useful to clean gear and get the air out of your mix after you froth it...I use a frother the small one for paint and right after it goes in u.c and never had any of my nic oxidise and the end result is 3 to 5 days shorter steep on my ADV'S
As most people have said, a scale for mixing by weight if he doesn't have one. I personally use the American weigh lb-501, as do a lot of people here. It's available on Amazon for usually somewhere around $25-30 but it fluctuates. There's nothing really wrong with mixing by volume with syringes etc, but mixing by weight is simpler, requires less extra equipment to fuck with, and there's nothing to have to rinse/clean afterwards.
To go along with a scale, at least 100 pack of disposable pipettes, I use them to transfer flavors and nic from my large storage bottles to 10-15ml dropper bottles for dispensing. Definitely comes in handy, but not really a reliable replacement for syringes for mixing by volume. Also some big squeeze bottles for dispensing vg and pg (if he adds pg), at least 120ml but can be bigger if needed. I use the twist top bottles from liquid barn but anything similar with a larger opening than standard juice bottles will work, I've seen some people say walmart sells large condiment squeeze bottles that work well.
Sorry for not including specific links, on mobile atm and about to go to sleep but if you have any questions feel free to ask.
A milk frother and a nice mixing glass. Milk frothers are so good for quickly and uniformly mixing a recipe up, and make for great shake and vapes. A long silicon spatula is really useful for getting all of your mix out of the mixing glass too.
These are a few simple things that really improved my mixing experience.
> and make for great shake and vapes
what.
OK, stir and vapes.
I've tried using a milk frother and i found it to be the biggest waste of money.
It's just so much easier and faster to mix in the bottle and just shake it. I saw absolutely no difference between shaking and frothing except that using the frother to mix caused the nicotine to aerate and oxidize that much faster.
Might a well have suggested a ultrasonic cleaner like that genius above. It would be exactly as useful... In that it's damaging to the end result.
50 bottles, 10 ml for only $9. Not great quality, but perfect for test batches. But at least a couple bags lol.
Glass bottles. Some People really hate dropper bottles, but I like the glass.
Or you could take a picture of his vape, take it to your local vape store, and buy an awesome new tank or accessories for it. Nothing wrong with having multiple tanks.
I got a couple of these to organise my concentrates. They work well.
BTSKY 70 Bottles Durable Waterproof Hard Shell EVA Large Capacity Essential Oils H... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06XD3VTP9/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_asqkAbKMS0T11
Google "aroma therapy" or "essential oils" case for more ideas.
Ridgid tools from home depot. Lifetime warranty on tool and battery if you get a kit and battery.
What's your budget?
I think there's a few lab items I would love. A backup scale (I currently use a 3kg .01g scale, but I've used 5kg .0001g scales in labs before....that would be so awesome to have, particularly for testing small batches. As would a couple micropipettors. Number one on my list, though, would be a vortexor. It's the best way to agitate without introducing too much oxygen into the mix (and hence potentially oxidizing the nic).
Short of that, more flavor concentrates. More bottles. If he ever starts making really large batches, consider a paint shaker... he could MacGyver together something out of that to agitate large bottles.
Or order him some hard to find items, like PDO. Maybe get some Solube Arome flavors direct from the manufacturer (in france) that are next to impossible to source anywhere else.
And if he doesn't have a really good flavor RDA for testing with yet, get him one. Although I can't suggest the Hadaly. Maybe the original recoil.
Lots of good here.
I second the scale and pipettes.
Maybe even a few flavors that are pricey: flv rich cinnamon ($15/bottle) etc. a couple others.
I'd even say it helps to have some premade ejuice to try cloning or for flavor ideas. I just got myself some from the Black Friday sales and the unusual flavors inspired me to rethink how I design recipes.
Something different. If you know anyone with a 3d printer (or are willing to shell out to use a 3d printing service) print them some bottle holders. I printed a set of spice racks I customized to fit 15, 30, and 120ml bottles and built a wall mounted rack for my mixing stand. Well worth it.
Scale and beakers, syringes, blunt tip needles, Glass stirring rods. If you wanna get me something, I could use a lab mixer.
First off, don't waste money on stuff for mixing by volume, it's a huge PITA.
Second, stir plates and stir rods are a bad idea, you'll oxidize the nic.
I do wonder what the "lab mixer" refers to. I would expect a vortexor but there are some shaker tables, etc, that rotate vials 180° and then reverse direction. Which would work fine but would probably be a real sore of increased electric bills.
Yeah, no. I prefer to mix in beakers, pumping components through a bottle opening is less than enjoyable, for me. I don't measure with syringes but I do use them to draw up and transfer liquid. Stir rods to be sure there are no hot spots in the beaker, if 20 or 50 rotations will oxidize the nic, I'm in trouble. I'm not sure of the nomenclature but I would like what I call a "tilt table" mixer. The electricity cost is not really a concern, considering that a gallon costs me about $70 vs $400 and up online and $4000 at the b+m. But I guess you can mix in an old pot, with a wooden spoon, if you want to.
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