Am I being naive on how simple I can make this?

[STLJohnny]

I do appreciate all responses. I research but easily get on information overload, thread after thread.

I did my research on how I can not be a complete DIYer but just tinker with mixes to make my own creations.
Not wanting to buy nic, pg and vg seperatley and mix I thought it would be nice to buy something like the 236ml bottle MBV offers.
Not needing to be precise I just want to play. I thought the 236ml bottle with 24mg and 80/20 pg/vg.
My goal would be around 18mg and 70/30
Using the ejucie calculator I plugged in numbers until I came out with something simple...

Base Nic Level (PG/VG/ETC) 24mg
Target Nic Level 18mg
Amount to be made 10ml
Flavor 1 25%

Mix would be..

Base with nicotine 7.5ml
Base (no nicotine) 0
Flavor 1 2.5ml

Now I think 25% is too high for flavoring but I can tinker with that.
My end question is now Im doing more research Im reading about heat baths and people using jewelry cleaners is this not as simple as above? Just add my base and flavor shake it up and taste?
Like I said I just want to play, I dont need to be 100% accurate. Keep adding drops until Im happy kind of deal.

Thank You!!

 

[Iron Molly]

Sure you can do that but you forgot one part--steeping. Which with some patience does not need anything other than letting it sit and giving the bottle a shake from time to time. With no steeping the flavor just isn't there.

 

[dannyv45]

What flavor are you going to start with. Starting at 25% with any flavor is way to high. The idea of a premixed base is perfect for a new DYI'er but my suggestion would be to start low with flavor. You can easly add more but it's a bit more difficult to adjust a mix that has to much flavor. A few recommendations

Fruits, sweets, creams start at 5 - 6 % and add more as needed
Tobaccos and spicy stuff like red hots start at 3%

Remember that the flavor may not come right away. Expecially tobaccos they will need anywhere from a few days to a month to mature (steeping). You can help that process speed up by putting your air tight mixing bottle in a thrumos cup filled with very hot tap water. Let it cool to room temperture then shake well and repeat 2 more times.

 

[Hoosier]

Mixing? How about fishing? Tell me which person is fishing...

The guy with a stick, a string, a hook, and a cork who digs up grubs on his way to the weedy bank?

The guy with the 150hp motor boat with live well, bilge pump, multiple tackle boxes, a rack of rigged fishing poles, sonar and dual trolling motors?

Which one is going fishing? Once you have the correct answer, you'll know what it takes to be a mixer.

(And 25% may be high, but it is very dependent on your sense of taste and what flavoring you are using, so assuming a flavoring % is like assuming there is a standard window.)

 

[dannyv45]

Mixing? How about fishing? Tell me which person is fishing...

The guy with a stick, a string, a hook, and a cork who digs up grubs on his way to the weedy bank?

The guy with the 150hp motor boat with live well, bilge pump, multiple tackle boxes, a rack of rigged fishing poles, sonar and dual trolling motors?

I love your analogies.

I would say the guy with the string tied to a tree branch using a safty pin as a hook is fishing. The other guy is to busy trying to figure out how all that stuff works

 

[STLJohnny]

I dont want to win the Bass Pro Championship I want to be the guy with a stick and a string. If I want bigger fish Ill get a thicker stick and dig up fatter worms.

But now I have a feeling the next 10 replies are going to be about fishing and not my question.

 

[Hoosier]

Well, with your question answered, it's only natural that some folks will start thinking about worms and crickets...

 

[TinyTimberGal]

Steeping is not a required or necessary step. Most of my mixes I 'make and vape'. For some recipes, the longer they sit the stronger they get (flavor wise) so by the end of a 30 ml bottle I end up diluting it. I came down with a virus/sore throat the other day and I needed to make a menthol vape asap. I found a recipe and within 15 minutes I was vaping it (and tasted great).

 

[B2L]

It's like they say, give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he has to buy a boat, a motor, rods and reels, a new set of clothing, etc. etc. etc.
You can keep it simple or get as involved in the chase of the perfect vape as you want.
Just remember, it's all a journey, not a destination.
As a general rule of thumb when it comes to DIY, I go by the rule "Whatever Hoosier says"

 

[STLJohnny]

Well, with your question answered, it's only natural that some folks will start thinking about worms and crickets...

Maybe you felt like my question was stupid and maybe you felt like I got what I needed. But you were knew once too.
Think back, would your reply have helped you. ECF is a great place to learn and most people assist the people who are trying to do so.
I guess you are not one of those or today just isnt your day. Maybe tomorrow.

 

[glasseye]

My 'heat bath' is putting some water in a Pyrex measuring cup and throwing it in the microwave for 1 minute. Then I put the bottle I just mixed in it and stir and shake until it's all warmed up. The theory there I think is to get all ingredients aquainted faster. I usually take off the lid and dripper (out of the bath), while it's cooling down, to air out. Some of the flavors are alcohol based and a lot of that will evaporate then. I might leave it until it's cooled or maybe overnight. I don't have an ultrasonic cleaner.
Some are ready to vape, some need a few days and if I don't like them within a week? I throw them in a box and forget it. Oh, and there are quite a few that will never be ready to vape. By anyone. Ever. lol

 

[Hoosier]

Maybe you felt like my question was stupid and maybe you felt like I got what I needed. But you were knew once too.
Think back, would your reply have helped you. ECF is a great place to learn and most people assist the people who are trying to do so.
I guess you are not one of those or today just isnt your day. Maybe tomorrow.

Gotcha' Hoosier stays out of STLJohnny threads from here on out. Not a problem.

Have Fun!

 

[dannyv45]

Steeping is not a required or necessary step. Most of my mixes I 'make and vape'. For some recipes, the longer they sit the stronger they get (flavor wise) so by the end of a 30 ml bottle I end up diluting it. I came down with a virus/sore throat the other day and I needed to make a menthol vape asap. I found a recipe and within 15 minutes I was vaping it (and tasted great).

THis may be true for fruits, sweets or candies but most tobaccos need steeping. I've made batches of tobacco that tasted like I was vaping pg/vg. THey were absolutely flavorless. After a few days to a few weeks the tobacco came through.

 

[e-pipeman]

I try to avoid tobacco flavours as I have yet to find anything that tastes like tobacco other than tobacco itself. With so many other flavours to try I don't feel that I'm missing out. I'm not keen on steeping - flavours can improve with storage but I like to mix'n'go - so flavours like blackcurrant suit me fine.

 

[STLJohnny]

I think I started to get confused because I had a juice I felt needed some cream. So I bought TFA vanilla cupcake concentrate from WL.
I made a 3 ml bottle just to test and added about .5ml of the cupcake. Because it was such a small bottle and a concentrate I thought just a little would go a long way.
Afterwards I couldn't smell or taste any of the cupcake.
Now I also bought Koolada and one drop of that stuff really did wonders on a flavor I wanted that cool feeling.

 

[FACE MEAT]

Maybe you felt like my question was stupid and maybe you felt like I got what I needed. But you were knew once too.
Think back, would your reply have helped you. ECF is a great place to learn and most people assist the people who are trying to do so.
I guess you are not one of those or today just isnt your day. Maybe tomorrow.

I think you misinterpreted Hoosier's response to your rather confusing original post. You say you just want to "tinker". You "don't need to be precise, just want to play".

Hoosier's analogy compared your "just play" style to the stick/string/cork guy. Sure, he may catch fish, but he's not as likely to catch as many fish as the hotshot on the boat with the wazoo equipment.

Haphazardly adding flavoring to nicotine base will result in a batch of DIY e-liquid. It may be fantastic, it may be just vapable, it may suck. the majority of the time, it will be the latter. Ask someone who has never baked to make chocolate chip cookies without a recipe. 999 times out of a thousand, they're going to suck.

Those among us who regularly mix up better-than-good DIY e-liquids do so because they have taken the time to learn as much as possible beforehand and learn even more with hands-on experience.

Hoosier is one of the most well-informed, well-intentioned folks I've come across here on ECF. I assure you, he meant no harm and was trying his best to help.

Lastly, there is a good deal of research and leg work involved in getting good at DIY. Don't fault somebody who's not willing to hold your hand for you every step of the way.

P.S. Do yourself a favor and read Hoosier's blogs. You'll thank him later.

 

[Hoosier]

P.S. Do yourself a favor and read Hoosier's blogs. You'll thank him later.

Some folks don't want my help, or my type of help. I would prefer those folks skip my blog too as I have a fairly well established way of writing and the blog is just more of the same, so I doubt the blogs' tone would be welcome.

BTW: The post was made that way so it would be open to interpretation because the best fisherman I ever knew rowed a boat on the river and didn't even use a pole or hook. He just reached into the water and then put them in the boat. I learned more about finding fish from him than any other person or device could teach me. (He was addressed as "Oldman" and answered to nothing else, but we called him "Oldman River" behind his back. His wife introduced herself to me as "Oldman's Wife".) DaMulta's method of mixing reminded me of that oldman since his method was so simplistic that he didn't even measure anything, but it worked for him.

 

[STLJohnny]

Some folks don't want my help, or my type of help. I would prefer those folks skip my blog too as I have a fairly well established way of writing and the blog is just more of the same, so I doubt the blogs' tone would be welcome.

BTW: The post was made that way so it would be open to interpretation because the best fisherman I ever knew rowed a boat on the river and didn't even use a pole or hook. He just reached into the water and then put them in the boat. I learned more about finding fish from him than any other person or device could teach me. (He was addressed as "Oldman" and answered to nothing else, but we called him "Oldman River" behind his back. His wife introduced herself to me as "Oldman's Wife".)

So your saying you would prefer I stay out of your blog when just an hour earlier you stated you would stay out of my thread.

Gotcha' Hoosier stays out of STLJohnny threadshttp://hoosiervapers.com/ from here on out. Not a problem.

Well now I'm going to read your blogs I'm going to enjoy them immensely and hope I pick up a few things along the way.

Your comment 5 posts in that my question was answered just made me feel like I shouldnt have asked it. That's all.
I was just looking for guidance not constant hand holding.

 

[B2L]

I think you misinterpreted Hoosier's response to your rather confusing original post. You say you just want to "tinker". You "don't need to be precise, just want to play".

Hoosier's analogy compared your "just play" style to the stick/string/cork guy. Sure, he may catch fish, but he's not as likely to catch as many fish as the hotshot on the boat with the wazoo equipment.

Haphazardly adding flavoring to nicotine base will result in a batch of DIY e-liquid. It may be fantastic, it may be just vapable, it may suck. the majority of the time, it will be the latter. Ask someone who has never baked to make chocolate chip cookies without a recipe. 999 times out of a thousand, they're going to suck.

Those among us who regularly mix up better-than-good DIY e-liquids do so because they have taken the time to learn as much as possible beforehand and learn even more with hands-on experience.

Hoosier is one of the most well-informed, well-intentioned folks I've come across here on ECF. I assure you, he meant no harm and was trying his best to help.

Lastly, there is a good deal of research and leg work involved in getting good at DIY. Don't fault somebody who's not willing to hold your hand for you every step of the way.

P.S. Do yourself a favor and read Hoosier's blogs. You'll thank him later.

Couldn't have said it any better, Hoosier is one of the big reasons I don't spend way too much on pre mixed juice today. He is also the reason I try to remember to write everything down, try being the operative word here

 

[DancingHeretik]

Your basic idea is good. So, buy the 236ml bottle with 24mg 80/20 pg/vg with the goal of 18mg 70/30. That would, of course, mean that you would need to add 25% PG or PG-based flavor.

So, all you have to do is decide what percentage flavor you want to try then add enough PG to your flavor to come out to 25% of however much you're making in that batch.

While you're still experimenting with the flavor percentages, it won't be that simple though. Because you'll start out with low percentages, test, then add a little, test, . . . . So, you won't KNOW yet what your final percentages will be.

But, as long as your main focus is the testing of flavors and the end nic concentration only has to be around the right level and not exact, it'll work.

I used to mix up a base that took into account adding 20% PG-based flavor. But, I found that I tend to add only about 10% flavor. So, now I mix up a base that allows for 10% flavor to make 18mg/ml of 80/20 final product. That way I end up with anywhere from 20mg/ml unflavored down to 16mg/ml if I use the maximum flavoring that I'm likely to ever use.

Now, about steeping. I steep tobacco flavors for a month. Other flavors I'll steep just a day or two before the first taste test. The more flavors you combine, the more likely it will need longer steeping for all the flavors to meld. And, I've read that fruit flavors are sometimes good right away, without any steeping. I've never tried a hot water bath or an ultrasonic cleaner. That's supposed to speed things up from what I've read.

With your cupcake experiment, did you come back a few days later and check to see if the flavor was any stronger after steeping?

Sorry I can't help more. I tend to find something I like then let the rest sit for weeks or months, in a box, ignored and neglected. Lately I've been making Tiramisu and ignoring the rest. So, I'm not very good at DIY yet in spite of how long I've been doing it.

Good luck and happy experimenting!