Hands down the best investment I have ever made in my vaping experience over any mod, was my DIY Kit. It was also the one investment that caused me the most trepidation and cost me the most money to complete, but now I can say it was the best money spent out of my vaping budget, because of its low-cost to maintain and the product yield more than pays for its self. So for the first installment in my DIY column, I will cover your DIY Kit and what you will need to fill it.
First off don’t start small. If you do, it will cost you more in the long run and you will be less committed to DIY’ing. Trust me the investment turn around will pay off in only a few months.
The first thing you will need are base liquids – PG and VG. The best place I have found to get them is Essential Depot. Order two gallons of each. Why you may ask, well first off they have competitive pricing and second if you order two of each you get FREE shipping which knocks off a crap load, so it’s like you’re getting a gallon and a half for free.
Next you will need nicotine. There are several places to get Nic. I suggest getting the highest strength nic you can get ONLY if you’re experienced with DIY, have the proper equiptment to handle it and the correct enviroment. Other than that, I’d recommend trying to find 36mg or 48mg mixing liquid if you are not highly experienced with the dangers of mixing with anything higher. (Due to recent issues with Nicotine vendors I will not endorse any vendor.)
In this post I have attached a list of flavors that will give you a start as to where to buy from and what is safe to use. Here are the websites of the major flavor vendors.
Bickford: www.bickfordflavors.com
Capella: www.capellaflavordrops.com
Faeries_Finest: www.faeriesfinest.com
FlavourArt: www.flavourart.it
LorAnn: www.lorannoils.com
Seedmans: www.seedman.com
TPA: shop.perfumersapprentice.com
Tasty_Puff: www.tastypuff.com
Next let’s talk about calculators. There are several good calculators online. Just Google and find one that you like. Here are a few.
- http://ejuice.breaktru.com/
- http://www.todmuller.com/ejuice/ejuice.php
- http://www.ecigexpress.com/ejuice-calculator.php
Also there are apps for droid and iphone.
- http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/e+juice+calculator
- http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ejuice/id350502065?mt=8
Next let’s talk about lab ware, yes I said lab ware. First you will need a clean area to work. I suggest the kitchen table if it’s clean. Why you ask, well your kitchen has a water source and microwave or stove.
- Storage container, I like to use a very large tackle box because it just keeps things neat.
- Latex gloves, to protect you from the nic solution and the really strong flavors that will take forever to wash off of your skin.
- Syringes with needles of varying sizes from 60ml to 5ml and the more the better. The best place I have found to get these has been the Tractor Supply Company’s veterinary section. Don’t worry they are sterile. Syringes are the most accurate way to measure your chemicals. Remember to take a cutting tool and blunt the tips of your needles.
- Note pad and Avery labels, sometimes I find juice ideas come to me when I look at a list of the flavors I have and write down the recipes and the flavors I want to order. As for the Avery labels, LABEL EVERYTHING.
- Empty bottles, nipples and caps, where else are you going to put your creations. Also when buying flavors sometimes it’s easier to transfer them to a dropper bottle. Another idea is to use a different color cap for flavors so you don’t confuse it with your juice.
- Hair color bottles with graduated measurements on the side. OK, I know this sounds weird but after sterilization this product that you can get in bulk from your local beauty supply store makes a great storage container for small amounts of your VG and PG so that you don’t have to lug around the jugs everywhere. Also it makes great containers for large batches of juice.
- A plastic measuring cup, you will not use this for actually measuring anything but you will use it for bathing your juice which I will cover later.
- A small funnel set for transferring liquids.
- Paper towels, to cover your work space and to wipe up the inevitable spills.
- French press, this is for the advanced DIY’ers who wants to make their own flavorings such as tea and coffee of clove.
Well this is all that I am going to cover for now. On the next installment of “DIY for beginners”, I will take you through the step by step process of making a simple but good two flavor juice. Until then, light led’s not cigarettes.
Ray Burge
(LEDshine)
“Hell I’m no expert! – I’m just a Vaper Like You!”
(Note: The above written information is for experienced individuals that understand the risks of using liquid nicotine. With using this article and its information, you are understanding that GuideToVaping.com or any of its admins or staff are by no means responsible for your actions.)
Very nice Ray. I look forward to the rest of the articles.
Thanks Jeannie, I was inspired by all of the great community Juice Slingers Like you JDvorr and PBdragon, who pointed me in the right direction.