Custom Fabricated Brass 14500 Steampunk MOD

[UncleChuck]

Hey guys!

I just finished up a project today, one that has spanned more than a year. Not because of its difficulty level, but because I built the bulk of this thing over a year ago, and was just too lazy to finish up the little detals (button, 510 connection, etc)

Well, today I finished it up, and am actually pretty happy with it! There are a few things here and there that I had to compromise on to get it working, but overall I think it looks great, and it works even better.

First of all let me say the idea for this mod is NOT ORIGINAL!! View the following thread:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/modding-forum/124775-brass-beast.html

When I first saw that post a few years back I instantly fell in love with that piece. I stalked the guy all over ECF looking at his incredible brass mods that he has built. He has made tons, and they are all cool as anything else I've seen. I really, really wanted one, but didn't want to be a jerk and pester him via PM in an attempt to get him to sell it. So, I decided to built something similar myself. I just want to say thanks to asdaq for making such great mods and inspiring me to make one myself!

Built using brass tubing of various diameters, and brass plate that was cut/filed down to shape. The end caps lock into the two middle tubes via a threaded rod that passes through the middle of the skinny brass tubes on the sides. Nuts on the end keep everything squeezed tight together. There are also 1/4" long rings of brass tubing that is slightly smaller than the main battery tubes which is brazed to the inside of the top and bottom plates. The main tubes fit over these smaller rings, so the whole thing is incredibly solid.

100% mechanical, takes a single 14500 (duals wouldn't work, the switch in the second tube is over an inch long, plus the space for wires) so battery life isn't great, but I'm getting awesome big thick clouds of vapor from the 1.7ohm single coil carto that resides inside the tank.

Speaking of the tank, it's just one of those Artemas Slim Locking tanks. I cut a piece of brass tubing that was tight enough to fit snug over the middle of the tank.

Thanks for your time guys, and I hope you like it! Be gentle

 

[asdaq]

Real nice Chuck, yours turned out very well. I like the oversized threaded rod and cap nuts, they increase it's weapon value tenfold.

Mine has even been in your fine city once or twice.

 

[jcal]

Real nice mod Chuck.I made a copper tube from Breaktru myself and I love it.thanks for sharing

 

[BorisTheSpider]

That is one mod I've been meaning to copy as well. Definitely one of my favorites of all time. In fact, it's one of the reasons I started tinkering with mods to begin with. Awesome original, asdaq, and new take on it, Uncle Chuck. I am envious.

One question on the brass, to either of you - I know it's not how your mods work, but would there be a problem channeling vapor through a piece of brass? Like, would it taint the flavor, or corrode the brass? I assume it would be a bad call, but I figure maybe you guys have actually tried it.

 

[CenTexVpr]

Ohhh! Very nice Uncle Chuck. That one definitely raises the bar. Asdaq's is quite nicae as well. Visions of steampunk dance thru my head....

 

[WillyB]

100% mechanical,

Damn for a minute there I thought you had moved into the 21st Century and used a real switch.

Nice work.

 

[asdaq]

100% mechanical,

Damn for a minute there I thought you had moved into the 21st Century and used a real switch.

Nice work.

He did. It sticks 1" inside the tube and has wires and everything. A flat anti-vandal switch?

Boris, I choose not to have vapor pass through any brass as it would corrode. Some mods that have sat on the shelf and liquid has escaped from the atty chamber and ran on the brass turn it particularly black in these spots and need intense cleaning. A brass drip tip for example would look nice, but I wouldn't do it. Easily avoidable.

 

[UncleChuck]

Thanks for the kind words guys! Especially asdaq, who seems to know very well that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

As far as the switch, I might be off on my terminology, by 100% mechanical I meant the device doesn't have any regulation or electronics or anything. The switch was purchased part, not made. I had originally put together a custom switch with various little brass bits and springs, but it was rather fragile and if (or when) it broke or fell apart it would have shorted out. It scared me too much to even leave a battery in it for a few hours.

It just wasn't a good design, so I just bought a switch. The bottom of the switch is huge though, takes up a ton of space. The switch is one of the things I had to compromise on, I'm going to keep tinkering and try to put together another custom switch and a system without wires if at all possible, which was my original plan. Kind of difficult with the switch located in a different tube than the battery and the 510 connection, though.

So was I wrong on my idea of what 100% mechanical means? Does that usually mean that the switch has been custom made as well? Sorry if I got that wrong!

Hey asdaq, what does the brass look like when corroded with juice? I purposefully left the surface bare, didn't polish it or clearcoat it because I wanted it to wear and weather a bit to look old and abused, if you know what I mean. Perhaps I could speed up the process by rubbing a bit of juice all over the thing? Or does it do serious damage to the metal and/or look terrible? I don't mean to leave the juice on there obviously, just use it as a means to speed up the "wear" process of the surface.

 

[asdaq]

I feel almost over flattered LOL. Technically it is a '3.7v mod' not a 'mechanical' but don't worry about that. I would really like to see what you have with the homemade switch even if it isn't presentable.

Here is a pic of my B. Bat after some cleaning up. The mouthpiece slides over the alu tube and the o-ring helps, but doesn't do a 100% job. By some cleaning I used toilet paper (has a very high grit number) and rubbing alcohol. You can still see black spots down low. Fine grit sandpaper would remove these it is just on the surface.

If you just leave yours as is it will get a milky patina within a couple of weeks just from your hands, with some nice contours under the plates where you don't touch or rub it. If you want to speed it up you can stick it in a airtight box with a small dish of ammonia and let the fumes do the work for a few days. Another nice effect is a process to remove lead from the surface by soaking the brass parts in hydrogen peroxide mixed with white vinegar, which leaves a milky golden color regardless of any lead presence in the first place.

Are you using K&S 5/8" tubing for the main tubes? What are your plates from?

 

[Glock Rock]

I'm not going to lie. I'm jealous. And if I ever find myself in Portland, you had better watch your back because I might knock you out and run away with it. But I'll leave a tip. Promise.

Seriously, though. It looks fantastic. I've been toying around with the idea of making a steampunk mod, myself. I'll get around to it someday (That is, if the wife doesn't cut me off from buying mod supplies first).

 

[UncleChuck]

No idea what brand or anything the tubing is. My grandparents used to own a clock repair shop back in the day, while helping to clean out the building after they closed down I saved a huge sheet of brass and some tubing from the dumpster. I'm assuming this stuff was meant to be used to repair grandfather clock mechanisms or something, as I remember seeing templates for various different plates and brackets, which were cut and drilled from large sheets of plain brass.

I'll try and get some pics of the original ghetto rigged switch the next time I'm able. I don't use cell phones and don't have a digital camera, so I was only able to get the pics in the OP because my sister was over visiting and I used her cell phone's camera. Next time I'm with someone who has a cam I'll try to get some more detailed pics of the device and some of the old switch.



Thanks for the idea about the hydrogen peroxide and white vinegar, perhaps I'll do that... although maybe I'll give it some time first and if I don't get some patina going soon then I'll resort to chemical means. Almost feels like cheating to treat it with chemicals, if you know what I mean heh.

 

[BorisTheSpider]

Boris, I choose not to have vapor pass through any brass as it would corrode. Some mods that have sat on the shelf and liquid has escaped from the atty chamber and ran on the brass turn it particularly black in these spots and need intense cleaning. A brass drip tip for example would look nice, but I wouldn't do it. Easily avoidable.

Exactly what I was looking for. And what I feared (but figured). Thanks for the info. I'll get off this thread with my only semi-related questions. Again, awesome mods -- the both of you.

 

[UncleChuck]

I'll get off this thread with my only semi-related questions.

Seems perfectly on topic to me! Any and everything brass related is welcome here

I'm glad you asked that question, because I have one of those skull drip tips which uses a brass tube to connect the top part to the bottom. I was worried about having vapor pass through brass, so that kind of cleared it up for me as well. Kind of a shame, I like those skull drip tips, but of course it would have been too easy for them to make it with SS or even aluminum instead of brass!

 

[asdaq]

Just a note, the peroxide-vinegar leaves it very clean looking and the ammonia gives the aged look, but you could certainly do both in that order. And Chuck, the background on the materials certainly builds up the character of the mod. Got any clock/ watch parts too?

 

[UncleChuck]

Unfortunately I didn't get to grab any clock parts. This was many years ago and I was only 14 or 15 when they closed down. I took the tubing and plate because I was building custom R/C Rock Crawlers at the time, figured it would be useful for making brackets, chassis plates, axle repair, etc. Didn't even know what steampunk was at the time, had I known I would have taken home boxes of the stuff!

They had a room in the basement that was about 10x15 feet that was FULL of racks, each rack full of bins and boxes, each bin and box full of every imaginable tiny clock part out there, most of them brass/bronze/copper/stainless steel from what I remember. That place would have been a steampunk builder's dream!

I do however currently have a small box full of tiny brass bits and pieces that I've saved up the last few years. This is where the parts for the old switch came from, and where any future steampunk related mods will be built.

The switch was basically just two plastic cylinder pieces with a hole in the middle. I then placed a brass pin contact inside each hole, which stuck out about 1.5mm.

The bottom one was secured inside a tube smaller than the main tubes, then I put a spring in there, with the second contact piece on top of that. I then attached a brass thumb screw looking piece to the top contact which stuck out the top of the mod.

When you pressed the button, the top contact piece overcame the spring's tension and contacted the bottom contact completing the circuit. The problem was that the whole setup was rather fragile feeling and I would have to put it together "just right" for the thing to actually work. If those center posts somehow contacted the brass tube it would short out the battery. I'm using protected batts but it still worried me.

My plan is to find some plastic tubing to use as the switch "chassis" that way if anything breaks or falls apart it won't short out, it will just stop working as a switch.

From the description of the switch design (I know it was a bad description) is there any obvious changes I could make (other than the plastic tube) to improve it's function that you could see?

 

[asdaq]

I'm not sure. Maybe plenty of flat contact area so the contacts don't hit the same small spot all the time? Pens are a good source of plastic tubing, I've got a whiteboard marker that has a nice 3/4" OD that I use repeatedly.

When it comes to cool brass parts, I couldn't even fill a smaller ziplock, but there's a whole lot of modding crap.