Thinking of trying DIY

[zaroba]

Was considering buying a few 240mls of juice, then I thought to myself "why don't I just try to make it instead?"
So, bit of looking around and figure I'll give it a try.

Thinking of buying a 32oz bottle of VG from amazon.com and 2x 15ml bottles of 100mg nicotine from Bull City Vapors. Assuming my math is correct, I just need to remove 30ml from the vg bottle, dump in the 2 bottles of nic, and it will come out to about 3mg

Then it is just a matter of pouring it into my empty 30ml glass bottles as needed and adding flavoring.

Flavoring...what to get, what to get, what to get.

 

[vaperature]

The math sounds pretty solid. Good luck and have fun. I don't do a lot of DIY but I have created a few good flavors including a Blackberry Menthol and a Coconut Cream Pie

 

[Huckleberried]

You can't go wrong with Bull City for stuff. Good people, fast, too.

What kind of flavors are ya into?

The math sounds pretty solid. Good luck and have fun. I don't do a lot of DIY but I have created a few good flavors including a Blackberry Menthol and a Coconut Cream Pie

Coconut Cream Pie, please.

 

[MD_Boater]

Was considering buying a few 240mls of juice, then I thought to myself "why don't I just try to make it instead?"
So, bit of looking around and figure I'll give it a try.

Thinking of buying a 32oz bottle of VG from amazon.com and 2x 15ml bottles of 100mg nicotine from Bull City Vapors. Assuming my math is correct, I just need to remove 30ml from the vg bottle, dump in the 2 bottles of nic, and it will come out to about 3mg

Then it is just a matter of pouring it into my empty 30ml glass bottles as needed and adding flavoring.

Flavoring...what to get, what to get, what to get.

Sounds good, but I have one piece of advice. Don't dilute your nic to 3% if that is what you want your final mixes to be. Sometimes you will use 2% or 3% flavoring in your mix, other times you will want 20%. It depends on the mix, and every one is slightly different. Buy what you have listed, but wait until after you have made some juice, and figure out what your average preferred flavor % is. Once you know that for sure, then you can dilute your nic so that most of your juices will come out at the proper nic level. Once you take it down that low, you can't go back up. You can always dilute the nic level down.

As an alternative, do what you said with 1/3 or 1/2 of your nic to see how it works out for you before committing the whole lot.

 

[-=Rob=-]

Yea, what they said. Mix small amounts first. Figure it out before mixing a bunch. You might want some PG too unless you want only a high VG mix. I prefer FlavourArts flavors, after trying other brands first. I would have saved some money and had better success had I used them sooner.


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[vaperature]

Sounds good, but I have one piece of advice. Don't dilute your nic to 3% if that is what you want your final mixes to be. Sometimes you will use 2% or 3% flavoring in your mix, other times you will want 20%. It depends on the mix, and every one is slightly different. Buy what you have listed, but wait until after you have made some juice, and figure out what your average preferred flavor % is. Once you know that for sure, then you can dilute your nic so that most of your juices will come out at the proper nic level. Once you take it down that low, you can't go back up. You can always dilute the nic level down.

As an alternative, do what you said with 1/3 or 1/2 of your nic to see how it works out for you before committing the whole lot.

This is good advice. Unless you are 100% sure you'll never need anything over 3%, because there's no way to undo it once you dilute it.

 

[zaroba]

Can't you just add a few drops of a higher percentage nic base to a mixed juice to bump it back up a bit?

I used to vape 6mg, but at the beginning of the year decided to switch to 3mg and bought a few juices that were 3mg. Now I can barely tolerate the throat hit from the 6mg and am finding myself clinging to the 3mg juices or mixing the 3mg with the left over 6mg juice to cut it down a bit. But, thinking about it some more, only using 3mg (or 2 if diluted with flavoring) might be too low as a lot of the ones I'm diluting are likely in the 4-5 range.

Ended up not going with Bull City, a lot of the flavors were out of stock.
But found ecigexpress and after an hour of browsing have a cart with 25 flavors in it, mostly FlavorArt and a few FlavorWest
They also have a nic testing kit, that should be helpful for a first timer like myself.

Also have 10ml syringes on order from amazon.

 

[MD_Boater]

Can't you just add a few drops of a higher percentage nic base to a mixed juice to bump it back up a bit?

I used to vape 6mg, but at the beginning of the year decided to switch to 3mg and bought a few juices that were 3mg. Now I can barely tolerate the throat hit from the 6mg and am finding myself clinging to the 3mg juices or mixing the 3mg with the left over 6mg juice to cut it down a bit. But, thinking about it some more, only using 3mg (or 2 if diluted with flavoring) might be too low as a lot of the ones I'm diluting are likely in the 4-5 range.

Ended up not going with Bull City, a lot of the flavors were out of stock.
But found ecigexpress and after an hour of browsing have a cart with 25 flavors in it, mostly FlavorArt and a few FlavorWest
They also have a nic testing kit, that should be helpful for a first timer like myself.

Also have 10ml syringes on order from amazon.

Sure you can, but in your OP you said that you were going to dilute it all right from the start. I was trying to help ya avoid buying more nic in the event that you wanted stronger juice...

 

[Huckleberried]

Aw, sorry about the luck with Bull City. If you want sample sizes of FA, you could go to MamaJs. He has them starting at $1.50 for 3mls and up. They're also having a 15% off Specialty Flavors this weekend. I've tried several of those and they are excellent. Shipping is really fast, plus if you order over $20, shipping is free. It's a safe way to order starting out. No huge loss is you get a flavor you don't care for, and if you do like one, 3mls will seriously last you a bit.

 

[zaroba]

Sure you can, but in your OP you said that you were going to dilute it all right from the start. I was trying to help ya avoid buying more nic in the event that you wanted stronger juice...

Ahh, I get what your saying. Good point.

 

[OBDave]

I'll second Bull City, though they do seem to be having some stocking problems...I've been playing with a host of flavors from all different brands, at this point I've decided I like anything FA makes, and if they don't have what I want TFA and INW hopefully do. Not a lot of luck with FW so far.

Also, when mixing in bulk I normally do about 160ml at a time and aim for 3.75mg strength - this leaves me right around 3mg, or a scoche higher, after I add flavorings. I don't know that I'd want a whole quart of pre-mix, since I keep my base sitting out and the rest of my supplies in the freezer - as I'm new I find myself constantly tinkering and make mostly 10ml sample batches, never more than 30ml as even recipes I'm happy with at first I find myself wanting to tinker a bit more with percentages after a few days...

 

[-=Rob=-]

Also have 10ml syringes on order from amazon.

I mix by weight so I don't use syringes much anymore, but I suggest you have some smaller than 10ml on hand, at least a few 1ml and 3ml. If you try mixing with only 10ml syringes, you'll likely quickly wish you had some smaller ones.



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[OBDave]

I mix by weight so I don't use syringes much anymore, but I suggest you have some smaller than 10ml on hand, at least a few 1ml and 3ml. If you try mixing with only 10ml syringes, you'll likely quickly wish you had some smaller ones.



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10ml is great for measuring base, but 1 and 3 are far superior for flavors, especially when making small sample batches and fractions of a ml make a big difference.

 

[zaroba]

What kind of flavors are ya into?.

Mostly simple flavors. Deserts/custards and single flavor berries/candies. Sometimes 2 of these mixed together.

 

[zaroba]

Not the 25 flavors I had in the cart last night, but after (literally) sleeping on it, decided to remove the things I haven't tried yet. I am mostly just getting flavors I have already vaped and like so will try to make:

FA: Caramel, Banana, Lemon Sicily, Orange, Peach, Raspberry, Strawberry, Vanilla Tahiti, Vanilla Classic, Concord Grape
FW: Blueberry, Cotton Candy

Some things to mix with flavors:
FA: Custard, Meringue, Marshmallow, Vape Wizard

Also, 100mg nic base in vg. Was thinking of the 30ml, but after the above stuff about possibly mixing it too weak I decided to up it to a 120ml for only double the price. Will use some and toss the rest in the bottom of my chest freezer after spreading it among 15ml or 30ml ambler glass bottles.

Already have 30ml clear glass bottles with eye droppers to use, and tiny funnels for filling them.
Ordered 15 and 30ml amber bottles from amazon, 32ounces 99.7% pure VG, 10ml syringes, 3ml syringes, 20 gauge blunt tip needles, and 1ml plastic pipettes. Would have gone with 1ml syringes instead of the pipettes, but the two sets I already ordered and the needles use lour lock and the only 1ml syringes that offered lour lock connections were glass and were far more expensive, so maybe at a later time. The plastic syringes I ordered already were a pack of 5 or 10 for a quarter of the price of one glass syringe.


Overall cost, around 25% less then the 4x 236ml bottles I was originally planning to buy from MBV (strawberry, grape, blueberry, lemon). I don't count the syringes, needles, and bottles as part of the cost as these are reusable supplies. But even with those, it would have only been slightly higher then the MBV purchase would have cost. Start up is always more expensive though, later on all I will need to buy is more VG to use.

 

[wllmc]

whooo hooo !!!!!!!!!!! goodluck !

 

[Huckleberried]

@zaroba, a really great start! You might need to pick up a bottle of distilled water by the time your order arrives. You being MAX VG, not adding any PG, other than whats in the flavors, most MAXers have to thing their mixes a bit.

You've made a good plan, here. Your cost on this stuff, vs the cost of the juice you were going to purchase is the smartest way to spend your $. You'll enjoy the flavors your got. You're going to have a ball!

 

[Hobby Kid]

Not the 25 flavors I had in the cart last night, but after (literally) sleeping on it, decided to remove the things I haven't tried yet. I am mostly just getting flavors I have already vaped ...

I do that. If I spend too much time with my head in juice sites I lose all judgement - usually financial judgement.

 

[Pauly Walnuts]

GOOD LUCK BRUTHA!!!!! (or sista?)
Your off to a great start.

 

[Woodsman]

I do that. If I spend too much time with my head in juice sites I lose all judgement - usually financial judgement.

Easy to overspend. I'm at the edge of being able to use my rationalization "I'm spending my cigarette savings" since I'm about seven months into the future of what I "would be" spending on cigarettes. At some point, I want to stop collecting vape supplies and actually save the money I'm saving by not smoking. As for DIY juices, I started with retail juices at 50VG/50PG. Then I shifted to 100% VG organic (5% H2O). Later, I bought an 8 ounce bottle of 70VG/30PG Kosher/USP grade unflavored no nic juice (I am vaping no nic). This sat around for awhile until I became brave enough to try DIY. I bought whole cloves at the health store and marinated them overnight in the 70/30 juice. I liked the taste. Then I went for cardamom seeds and marinated them for a couple days. Tastes even better. So that's where I am now...health store whole spices marinated in 70/30. Cinammon sticks are a bit bland but are good to mix in with cloves or cardamom as a background taste. Soon I will crack some whole nutmeg to marinate. Later, I have Allspice berries to try out. Really, this is all experimental. No one has all the answers, so I intend to "Vape it and see what happens"...

 

[Hobby Kid]

Easy to overspend. I'm at the edge of being able to use my rationalization "I'm spending my cigarette savings" since I'm about seven months into the future of what I "would be" spending on cigarettes. At some point, I want to stop collecting vape supplies and actually save the money I'm saving by not smoking. As for DIY juices, I started with retail juices at 50VG/50PG. Then I shifted to 100% VG organic (5% H2O). Later, I bought an 8 ounce bottle of 70VG/30PG Kosher/USP grade unflavored no nic juice (I am vaping no nic). This sat around for awhile until I became brave enough to try DIY. I bought whole cloves at the health store and marinated them overnight in the 70/30 juice. I liked the taste. Then I went for cardamom seeds and marinated them for a couple days. Tastes even better. So that's where I am now...health store whole spices marinated in 70/30. Cinammon sticks are a bit bland but are good to mix in with cloves or cardamom as a background taste. Soon I will crack some whole nutmeg to marinate. Later, I have Allspice berries to try out. Really, this is all experimental. No one has all the answers, so I intend to "Vape it and see what happens"...

That sounds nice. I'd like to try it. Also sounds like a good way to make tea. Do the additives such as the cinammon and nutmeg separate from the base liquid after a while?
I just went shopping in my other room and found TW's blueberry concentrate and lemon/lime. So gonna add some to something.

 

[Woodsman]

That sounds nice. I'd like to try it. Also sounds like a good way to make tea. Do the additives such as the cinammon and nutmeg separate from the base liquid after a while?
I just went shopping in my other room and found TW's blueberry concentrate and lemon/lime. So gonna add some to something.

I haven't noticed any separation. Of course, I've only been doing this for a week, so time will tell. Right now I have most of my base juice invested in Cardamom. This is still my favorite. Eventually I'll balance my spices to achieve the taste of Chai Tea (Cardamom, Cloves, Cinammon, Ginger, and ?).

 

[Woodsman]

I'm not using any ground spices. Whole Cloves, Cracked Nutmeg pieces, Cinnamon Sticks, Allspice Berries, Cardamom Seeds. I would try split dry Vanilla Bean but I'm not into Vanilla. By using big chunks of spice, I don't worry about small pieces clogging up my wicks.

 

[Hobby Kid]

I'm not using any ground spices. Whole Cloves, Cracked Nutmeg pieces, Cinnamon Sticks, Allspice Berries, Cardamom Seeds. I would try split dry Vanilla Bean but I'm not into Vanilla. By using big chunks of spice, I don't worry about small pieces clogging up my wicks.

Oh I get you. You're letting the pg/vg soak up the flavour of the spice and stuff. So when you fill a tank it's just liquid with no bits. So you're kinda in it for the long haul. It's a bit like pickling really except the other way around.

 

[zaroba]

Do the tannins in the spices turn the solution brown?
Have to imagine that the tannins could wreak havoc on coils and cotton pretty quickly.

 

[Woodsman]

Do the tannins in the spices turn the solution brown?
Have to imagine that the tannins could wreak havoc on coils and cotton pretty quickly.

Slightly brown...well, I'll keep an eye on that. Like I said, this is all experimental. So far, so good, though.

 

[Hobby Kid]

I'm going to the health food shop tmrw to see what I can find

 

[zaroba]

Well, the first shipment of stuff came (actually came on Tuesday)
Still waiting for the flavorings and nic from ecigexpress. They were supposed to arrive on Friday, but the snowstorm delayed it. Based on tracking, looks like it will arrive tomorrow. Sucks because I wont have time to play with it until Thursday (work week is sun-wed). Probably wont even be able to get it from the post office until Thursday.

10ml Syringes (pack of 5)
3ml pipettes (pack of 100, 0.5ml graduation)
3ml syringes (pack of 100) - lol, I could have sworn the listing said 'pack of 10'. damn, 100 syringes. I'm set for life. and no clue why I bought 3ml syringes *and* 3ml pipettes. Kinda redundant. Only thing I can tell is that I must have forgotten about the syringes and ordered the pipettes (they were in different orders).
1 doz 30ml amber bottles
ten 15ml amber bottles
1qt of VG, 99.7%
Blunt Tip 18 ga x 1-1/2" needles (pack of 50)

 

[RocketPuppy]

Well, the first shipment of stuff came (actually came on Tuesday)
Still waiting for the flavorings and nic from ecigexpress. They were supposed to arrive on Friday, but the snowstorm delayed it. Based on tracking, looks like it will arrive tomorrow. Sucks because I wont have time to play with it until Thursday (work week is sun-wed). Probably wont even be able to get it from the post office until Thursday.

10ml Syringes (pack of 5)
3ml pipettes (pack of 100, 0.5ml graduation)
3ml syringes (pack of 100) - lol, I could have sworn the listing said 'pack of 10'. damn, 100 syringes. I'm set for life. and no clue why I bought 3ml syringes *and* 3ml pipettes. Kinda redundant. Only thing I can tell is that I must have forgotten about the syringes and ordered the pipettes (they were in different orders).
1 doz 30ml amber bottles
1 doz 15ml amber bottles
1qt of VG, 99.7%
Blunt Tip 18 ga x 1-1/2" needles (pack of 50)

Where'd ya order from? I have a list for sources, and I'm always looking for new, reliable places.

 

[zaroba]

That was all from amazon.com
I have amazon prime as well, so free 2 day shipping

1oz Amber Glass Bottles with Glass Eye Dropper - Pack of 12 - $11.49
15ml Amber Glass Bottle with Glass Eye Dropper - Pack of 10 - $7.79 (sorry, I said 12 earlier)
Vegetable Glycerine Kosher USP 99.7%+ Pure - $13.99 (available in 16oz, 32oz, 1 gal, 5 gal)
Dispensing Needle, Blunt Tip 18 ga x 1-1/2" Tip, 50 pcs - $13.01
10cc Syringe (Pkg. of 5) - $5.49
Plastic Transfer Pipettes 3ml, Gradulated, Pack of 100 - $4.80
Empty Syringes Only , Disposable, Sterile, 3 mL, 100/Bx - $7.25

 

[Woodsman]

Good Prices. If you want nicotine base, I found some at Velvet Cloud that looks trustworthy. If I were doing nicotine, that is where I would buy mine.

 

[Woodsman]

Good Prices. If you want nicotine base, I found some at Velvet Cloud that looks trustworthy. If I were doing nicotine, that is where I would buy mine.

Funny how when the smoke clears after a buying spree, some of the stuff seems unnecessary...but hey, it's more fun than spending it on cigarettes.