This post is going to be two-fold. First, I just wanted to say thank you to everybody in this community.
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I made my first DIY order last Halloween. I had no idea this sub existed for the first 2-3 months I was mixing (a local friend told me to give DIY a shot), and I hated everything I made. The only site I knew about was ELR and all of the flavors I bought were for recipes that were created 3+ years ago. I then tried my hand at making my own recipes and had no idea what I was doing. I was making stuff like TFA Koolada 3.5%, FA Forest Fruit 8%, TFA Sweetener 4.5%.
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Then something magical happened... I found this subreddit! I lurked for a few months (thought you were all a bunch of weirdos who thought way too hard about recipes and flavors, and now look at me...), read everything I could, and then... the obession began. I placed my next order in April, and the an even larger order just a few weeks later. I was mixing up highly recommended recipes from ATF and I was finally beginning to understand how flavors interacted with eachother. I entered the second mixer's showdown. u/humanpuck and I created an amazing recipe together which ended up being my first public recipe on ATF.
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I am finally to the point where I am working on my own recipes that actually have potential. I have been working on 3 different recipes for the past month or so. It is taking me awhile, but I understand what and why adjustments need to be made. Which brings me to my second point: lessons learned.
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These are my top 5 lessons learned:
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JOIN THE DISCORD!
- The people there are amazing and are always willing to help
- You can get answers to your questions in real time
- We are all crazy and have a lot of fun
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Read the sidebar and all of the other resources
- If you are asking whether or not a flavor is worth buying, chanes are there is a review
- New to DIY or on the fence about making the plunge? The Beginner's Guidehas everything you need.
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If your question cannot be answered by reading the sidebar, post your question!
- Don't be lazy. If the answer can be easily found, look for it yourself first
- If it cannot be easily found, or if you need clarification, be specific about what you are asking
- "Is my nicotine bad?" is not going to get you any answers.
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Single flavor test (SFT)!
- Flavor reviews are amazing and give a good baseline of what to expect, but you still might have a different opinion
- Even if you don't have time or are too lazy to mix up an actual bottle of every flavor you have, at least add a little bit to some VG and put a small dab on your hand. Knowing what your flavors taste like is going to help tremendously when deciding between the thousands of different lemons.
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Buy a damn scale.
I think I lurked here for about 6 months before I placed my first order. It was worth it. I almost bought a stupid starter kit and extra syringes. It took me about the same time to join the discord too. Discord really intimidated me then I found out everyone there is pretty much everyone from here.
I did buy a kit... and used the damn syringes, beaker, etc for a good couple of months.
Not a good time haha
My journey started at vape wild...
Lol, I tried but their stupid age verification wouldn't let me. I tried about 3 times and used the online chat thing a bunch. The people didn't have answers and one of them was downright rude. So I said F' em.
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I went to DIY Eliquid supplies I think, I dont remember. But I bought a bunch of flavors because the pictures looked good. I had a very hard time with those and thought DIYers were full of shit about their stuff tasting good. I think I was just stubborn and wanted to do everything myself. Once I started following recipes, I was all in.
Yup, I was a victim of the starter kit. Never even unwrapped the syringes...
I just use the syringes as pipettes for flavors thatcdont have dropped caps on them
Take notes and get a god damn labeler I had this recipe that is now on atf that was called prickly dragon the first mix i made was in a hurry and didn’t write everything down cause i thought i was a master after 2 weeks of mixing turns out i couldn’t replicate it till about v10
Notes I agree with! I still use masking tape and a pen/sharpie 😂
Im generally clumsy i always get liquid on the label somehow and always manage to smudge up the sharpie
Write it with sharpie directly on the bottle and put a strip of clear scotch tape over it. This will prevent the sharpie from getting smudged or faded. Additionally, when you go to take the tape off, the sharpie should come off, or almost completely come off, and stick to the tape.
What is a good scale you recommend? I have one but it’s a piece of shit and doesn’t register so I end up wasting my stuff so I just use the syringes.
Everyone will recommend you the American Weigh Scales LB-501 because of the 500g capacity and the option to plug it into a wall socket so it doesn't shut off. It's a good scale for the price but almost any scale will work. The most important thing is that it reads to the hundredth.
Ok I will make the investment cause I’m sick of having to clean everything after every time I use it lol.
I got my first scale in a head shop. I actually prefer using it over the LB501. It's smaller and flat with a display that is lighted. So you can see the numbers in the dark if you wanted to. The 501 is bulky and has that stupid lid. Dont get me wrong, it's a nice scale. But my first scale does a great job and it isn't so darn big.
A few scales that read to the hundredth actually read about +/-0.05gm, PITA when you're adding drops and the thing doesn't move then suddenly jumps 0.07 or something
The LB-501 is often regarded as the best bang for your buck.
I personally just bought a scale from Target and it works great.
Most important thing is that it measures in .01 grams
Something to consider is that scales work as a proportion of their capacity. Meaning that if you're primarily mixing 100ml or less at a time, you probably don't need that 3kg capacity one, nor the 500g one. Personally, I'm of the opinion that weighing your VG/PG is overkill, so you can honestly just scale the flavour in a big bottle and then add base off the scale.
I'm currently using a $10 100g 0.01g scale, powered via micro-USB, and according to my calibration weights, is over 99% accurate. The LB-501 is a pain in the ass to get at a reasonable price outside of Australia, and is frankly overkill for most DIY'ers. Plus, the delay and lack of backlight drives me nuts.
> Personally, I'm of the opinion that weighing your VG/PG is overkill
I weigh PG but not the VG. I know where it's supposed to be on my bottles. So I top off my mixes with VG off the scale. If I go over or under a bit it's really not a big deal. I'm definitely not OCD about getting super precise measurements on VG. I just squeeze it in there and say good enough lol.
The last four points are excellent and universal. Still not convinced discord is needed.
I'm sure it's good for new mixers but me gets the impression Dischord was created to cultivate a loyal following and to raise the profile of certain mixers.