DIY Techniques and Tips Part 2: Tools and Techniques of DIY
You will get nowhere with this if you cannot collect reference information as you go, and repeat an an experiment reliably. That means you must use proper tools, technique and keep diligent records.
Technique is about use of the proper tools, and the proper use of those tools. So let's start there.
I think I am pretty qualified to speak on this subject. I am a formally trained chemist and chemical engineer. I have done analytical chemistry for the EPA, and run a small specialty chemicals manufacturing plant, among other things. You know what all that is worth? In the USA, basically nothing because we sent almost the entire industry to China.
I do know something about weights, measures, tools, techniques. All you need to know to do this and do it well requires no special training or tools. In fact, what I describe is not only the most sound technique in terms of the important thing - reproducibility - it also happens to be the easiest way to approach this as well. ;-)
This is not analytical chemistry. You can develop the technique you need, and high degree of accuracy is not a factor. Accuracy means a very precisely known quantity. You do not need to know the quantities you are working with precisely, and who even knows what is in a flavor anyway.
Reproducibility is what matters! You DO need to be able to do the same thing over and over again, which is not quite the same as accuracy, but it does require careful technique.
Let's look at tools that are available and pick ones that are most useful, available, and can be used with good technique and no special training to obtain reproducible results. This is based upon a small scale, 3-5 mL, for a large number of flavor experiments.
Graduated Cylinders:
I do not advise using graduated cylinders. Graduated cylinders are typically calibrated "TC" - "To Contain". That is fine if you want to make a juice up to exactly 10 mL except a problem is a graduated cylinder is not suitable for mixing. They are not calibrated to deliver an accurate volume to another container either.
Some graduated cylinders are in fact calibrated "TD" - To Deliver. That means that even though there is some residual liquid in them they deliver the amount you read on the side. BUT these are less common, and the bigger problem is that they are invariably calculated to deliver water. PG and VG are definitely not water.
So, a TC graduated cylinder will accurately *contain* a certain volume, but they are not practical for mixing. A TD graduated cylinder will not accurately deliver an amount of volume for the types of liquids you are working with, and TD cylinders are not the standard anyway.
Rule If you did not exactly get all that, the short answer is graduated cylinders are mostly useless for this kind of application.
Pipettes and Droppers:
Pipettes are delivery devices. You are not likely to encounter analytical glass pipettes, so I will not elaborate further. Simple plastic unmarked pipettes are useful for limited purposes - delivering drops. You might want to have one around if you like to add a drop or two of Grain Alcohol to your mixes. Droppers are a form of a pipette the main difference being unmarked pipettes are usually just blow molded plastic, many but not all droppers are glass with a rubber bulb.
Many droppers you find in drugstores have graduations. These are useful for giving liquids meds to a baby. DO NOT use them as reliable volumetric tools. They are meant to give a *reasonable* dose to a baby, NOT a *reproducible* one.
Rule: Pipettes and droppers can be useful but ONLY in the literal sense - use them ONLY to add drops, do not use one with markings and think that "3 mL" on a dropper actually means much useful.
Syringes:
A syringe is the only volumetric instrument I consider useful to a DIYer. I use them to add nicotine base and PG/VG base. I suggest you use 1 mL syringes unless you are making batches greater than 5 mL. Here is how to use one properly:
A syringe is a TD device. That means it is designed to deliver the amount you read on the side - 0.5 mL on the side of a syringe will deliver within reasonable "faithfulness" something on the order of 0.5 mL. That is only true if used properly however. Properly means accounting for the liquid in the needle and leuer (the sleeve and tip). Syringes are not intended to be "emptied" they are intended to deliver based on the plunger, leaving the needle and leuer still full of liquid. That means a syringe is designed to be used as follows:
1) With the barrel full of liquid to the plunger. Pull the plunger back so the tip is aligned with the marking on the side.
2) With the needle and leuer also full of liquid.
That means no air bubbles basically. If you pull the tip out of the liquid and pull air into the needle, when you depress the plunger it will deliver the air, less than the amount you read on the mark and leave the needle full. Similarly if you pull air up into the barrel and then the liquid, the syringe will deliver the amount you read the liquid at (not how it is meant to be used in the first place) then the plunger will also push out the air above the liquid in the barrel partially emptying the leuer and needle. In the first case you are delivering less than the mark, in the second case you are delivering more.
You may notice that thicker liquids like PG/VG mixes don't always draw right up in your syringe. To fix this you need to "prime" the syringe - wet the barrel and needle/leuer. Draw until you get liquid up high as you want to go and expel. Then you should be able to draw up up liquid without any air. Of course keep the tip submersed. Expelling is no problem - you did start with a CLEAN, DRY syringe right?
Also do not touch the tip of the needle to the container you are adding to. Just insert it in the middle and push the plunger.
Even with good technique, syringes are best used as simply as possible - go to whole numbers. For example if I want 1.5 mL PG/VG base, using a 1 mL syringe I will add 0.7 mL and then 0.8 mL.
Rule: No air in the syringe, always pull liquid to the desired mark with the needle submersed and no air between the plunger and the liquid. Do not touch the final container with the needle. Push the plunger firmly to dispense, then set it aside, do not "pump" it to try to expel all the contents.
Powders:
Powders require a different approach. A "teaspoon" what does that mean Level teaspoon? Packed. Rounded? Too variable! A small set of digital jeweler scales can be had for cheap on e-Bay. Get a small set, I suggest a 20 gm with 0.01 or 0.001 gm accuracy depending on your price range. Using a balance is pretty easy, read the instructions on how to calibrate it (most come witha couple of weights) and how to tare it.
Working with powders requires a little practice, but usually you weigh the powder on a weighing paper which is creased then carefully pour the powder down the crease into a vial. You don't need weighing papers, a clean square of regular paper will work, rolling papers are the best thing to use.
Also, "percentages" are not a very descriptive term. A true weight perecent solution means you dissolve X amount by weight of powder in Y amount by weight of liquid to give a final % value.
However, without practice you will find this a little difficult. Again, because of the nature of the work I suggest a far easier method. Weigh the powder then add the solvent by volume from a syringe. This is not exactly the same thing as a true weight percentage based solution, but it is much easier to reproduce.
For example, to make a true 10% Ethyl Vanillin solution in PG/VG I would weight out 0.5 gms of EV, put it in a vial and add 4.5 gms of PG/VG. But it is much easier (and therefore much easier to reproduce) to weigh out 0.5 gms of EV, and add 4.5 mL of PG/VG from a syringe. That is ~10%. What is important is not the 10% by weight so much as what I can do over and over again easily with the tools available.
Summary:
For 5 mL and smaller batches, you really only need 1 mL 14 gauge syringes for your nic base and PG/VG base. Get 4, not expensive, that way you can have a clean set and the second set drying. The markings will wear off almost immediately if unprotected. With a new syringe, get some clear nail polish and coat the markings liberally and allow to dry. This will protect them. Re-apply as needed (not often).
Always start with a clean, dry syringe. Wash thoroughly with hot water immediately after use by drawing up and expelling hot clean water multiple times. Remove the needle and blow it out. Repeat numerous times. A last rinse with a little 190 proof Grain alcohol is recommended and will speed drying. Then let air dry.
You will rarely need a dropper or pipette, usually only if you want to add a drop or so of 190 Proof Grain Alcohol, or water. A dropper bottle like you will mix the juice in works just as well as a pipette and does not require washing and drying. You will need plenty of bottles, just use one of them for Grain Alcohol or water and forget about droppers or pipettes.
It is that simple - syringes and dropper bottles which you will be using to mix in anyway.
If you also want to work with powders, a small set of digital scales from e-Bay is much better technique than using teaspoons.
Now that we have covered the basic tools and techniques, (pretty simple isn't it!) next let's talk about flavors and drops, because at the 3-5 mL range drops are what you will be working with for everything except PG/VG base and nicotine base.
You will get nowhere with this if you cannot collect reference information as you go, and repeat an an experiment reliably. That means you must use proper tools, technique and keep diligent records.
Technique is about use of the proper tools, and the proper use of those tools. So let's start there.
I think I am pretty qualified to speak on this subject. I am a formally trained chemist and chemical engineer. I have done analytical chemistry for the EPA, and run a small specialty chemicals manufacturing plant, among other things. You know what all that is worth? In the USA, basically nothing because we sent almost the entire industry to China.
I do know something about weights, measures, tools, techniques. All you need to know to do this and do it well requires no special training or tools. In fact, what I describe is not only the most sound technique in terms of the important thing - reproducibility - it also happens to be the easiest way to approach this as well. ;-)
This is not analytical chemistry. You can develop the technique you need, and high degree of accuracy is not a factor. Accuracy means a very precisely known quantity. You do not need to know the quantities you are working with precisely, and who even knows what is in a flavor anyway.
Reproducibility is what matters! You DO need to be able to do the same thing over and over again, which is not quite the same as accuracy, but it does require careful technique.
Let's look at tools that are available and pick ones that are most useful, available, and can be used with good technique and no special training to obtain reproducible results. This is based upon a small scale, 3-5 mL, for a large number of flavor experiments.
Graduated Cylinders:
I do not advise using graduated cylinders. Graduated cylinders are typically calibrated "TC" - "To Contain". That is fine if you want to make a juice up to exactly 10 mL except a problem is a graduated cylinder is not suitable for mixing. They are not calibrated to deliver an accurate volume to another container either.
Some graduated cylinders are in fact calibrated "TD" - To Deliver. That means that even though there is some residual liquid in them they deliver the amount you read on the side. BUT these are less common, and the bigger problem is that they are invariably calculated to deliver water. PG and VG are definitely not water.
So, a TC graduated cylinder will accurately *contain* a certain volume, but they are not practical for mixing. A TD graduated cylinder will not accurately deliver an amount of volume for the types of liquids you are working with, and TD cylinders are not the standard anyway.
Rule If you did not exactly get all that, the short answer is graduated cylinders are mostly useless for this kind of application.
Pipettes and Droppers:
Pipettes are delivery devices. You are not likely to encounter analytical glass pipettes, so I will not elaborate further. Simple plastic unmarked pipettes are useful for limited purposes - delivering drops. You might want to have one around if you like to add a drop or two of Grain Alcohol to your mixes. Droppers are a form of a pipette the main difference being unmarked pipettes are usually just blow molded plastic, many but not all droppers are glass with a rubber bulb.
Many droppers you find in drugstores have graduations. These are useful for giving liquids meds to a baby. DO NOT use them as reliable volumetric tools. They are meant to give a *reasonable* dose to a baby, NOT a *reproducible* one.
Rule: Pipettes and droppers can be useful but ONLY in the literal sense - use them ONLY to add drops, do not use one with markings and think that "3 mL" on a dropper actually means much useful.
Syringes:
A syringe is the only volumetric instrument I consider useful to a DIYer. I use them to add nicotine base and PG/VG base. I suggest you use 1 mL syringes unless you are making batches greater than 5 mL. Here is how to use one properly:
A syringe is a TD device. That means it is designed to deliver the amount you read on the side - 0.5 mL on the side of a syringe will deliver within reasonable "faithfulness" something on the order of 0.5 mL. That is only true if used properly however. Properly means accounting for the liquid in the needle and leuer (the sleeve and tip). Syringes are not intended to be "emptied" they are intended to deliver based on the plunger, leaving the needle and leuer still full of liquid. That means a syringe is designed to be used as follows:
1) With the barrel full of liquid to the plunger. Pull the plunger back so the tip is aligned with the marking on the side.
2) With the needle and leuer also full of liquid.
That means no air bubbles basically. If you pull the tip out of the liquid and pull air into the needle, when you depress the plunger it will deliver the air, less than the amount you read on the mark and leave the needle full. Similarly if you pull air up into the barrel and then the liquid, the syringe will deliver the amount you read the liquid at (not how it is meant to be used in the first place) then the plunger will also push out the air above the liquid in the barrel partially emptying the leuer and needle. In the first case you are delivering less than the mark, in the second case you are delivering more.
You may notice that thicker liquids like PG/VG mixes don't always draw right up in your syringe. To fix this you need to "prime" the syringe - wet the barrel and needle/leuer. Draw until you get liquid up high as you want to go and expel. Then you should be able to draw up up liquid without any air. Of course keep the tip submersed. Expelling is no problem - you did start with a CLEAN, DRY syringe right?
Also do not touch the tip of the needle to the container you are adding to. Just insert it in the middle and push the plunger.
Even with good technique, syringes are best used as simply as possible - go to whole numbers. For example if I want 1.5 mL PG/VG base, using a 1 mL syringe I will add 0.7 mL and then 0.8 mL.
Rule: No air in the syringe, always pull liquid to the desired mark with the needle submersed and no air between the plunger and the liquid. Do not touch the final container with the needle. Push the plunger firmly to dispense, then set it aside, do not "pump" it to try to expel all the contents.
Powders:
Powders require a different approach. A "teaspoon" what does that mean Level teaspoon? Packed. Rounded? Too variable! A small set of digital jeweler scales can be had for cheap on e-Bay. Get a small set, I suggest a 20 gm with 0.01 or 0.001 gm accuracy depending on your price range. Using a balance is pretty easy, read the instructions on how to calibrate it (most come witha couple of weights) and how to tare it.
Working with powders requires a little practice, but usually you weigh the powder on a weighing paper which is creased then carefully pour the powder down the crease into a vial. You don't need weighing papers, a clean square of regular paper will work, rolling papers are the best thing to use.
Also, "percentages" are not a very descriptive term. A true weight perecent solution means you dissolve X amount by weight of powder in Y amount by weight of liquid to give a final % value.
However, without practice you will find this a little difficult. Again, because of the nature of the work I suggest a far easier method. Weigh the powder then add the solvent by volume from a syringe. This is not exactly the same thing as a true weight percentage based solution, but it is much easier to reproduce.
For example, to make a true 10% Ethyl Vanillin solution in PG/VG I would weight out 0.5 gms of EV, put it in a vial and add 4.5 gms of PG/VG. But it is much easier (and therefore much easier to reproduce) to weigh out 0.5 gms of EV, and add 4.5 mL of PG/VG from a syringe. That is ~10%. What is important is not the 10% by weight so much as what I can do over and over again easily with the tools available.
Summary:
For 5 mL and smaller batches, you really only need 1 mL 14 gauge syringes for your nic base and PG/VG base. Get 4, not expensive, that way you can have a clean set and the second set drying. The markings will wear off almost immediately if unprotected. With a new syringe, get some clear nail polish and coat the markings liberally and allow to dry. This will protect them. Re-apply as needed (not often).
Always start with a clean, dry syringe. Wash thoroughly with hot water immediately after use by drawing up and expelling hot clean water multiple times. Remove the needle and blow it out. Repeat numerous times. A last rinse with a little 190 proof Grain alcohol is recommended and will speed drying. Then let air dry.
You will rarely need a dropper or pipette, usually only if you want to add a drop or so of 190 Proof Grain Alcohol, or water. A dropper bottle like you will mix the juice in works just as well as a pipette and does not require washing and drying. You will need plenty of bottles, just use one of them for Grain Alcohol or water and forget about droppers or pipettes.
It is that simple - syringes and dropper bottles which you will be using to mix in anyway.
If you also want to work with powders, a small set of digital scales from e-Bay is much better technique than using teaspoons.
Now that we have covered the basic tools and techniques, (pretty simple isn't it!) next let's talk about flavors and drops, because at the 3-5 mL range drops are what you will be working with for everything except PG/VG base and nicotine base.
