Electric Juice mixer for Reciprocating Saw

[Tucsonbroker]

Posted this before in the general e-liquid forum, which was obviously lost on them because they aren't making their own juice.

I saw a few of the mixers that attach to sawzalls (reciprocating saws) on youtube and decided to make my own. Their method was using a clamp, but because I want to mix in plastic bottles and dropper bottles I didn't like to use a clamp. Plus I wanted to use whatever I had in my workshop.
An old sawzall blade. Ground off the teeth and shortened it.
I took a piece of 1 1/2 inch pvc pipe and used a 1000 degree heat gun to melt the end and squeezed the end down between wooden blocks on a vice. Then drilled 2 holes in the blade, matching holes on the pvc pipe and attached them together with bolts. Drilled a retaining bolt hole on the other side so the bottle would not come out during shaking. Wrapped a bottle in bubble wrap and shoved it inside the pipe and used the retaining bolt. 30 seconds on full speed and the juice was mixed. Cost was zero other than my time.

I can take more pics if you want, but this was super simple and works great. My wife laughed when I showed the completed project to her. Picture attached. I can add more if you want.

 

[Gummy Bare]

I remember seeing something similar a while back.... They were using something attached to a impact torque drill, and then would place a 10ml bottle in it and go to town.

I've been thinking of getting an electric milk frother... Not the all in one jug shaped kind that heats the milk while frothing, but the hand held battery operated ones that just agitate/mix the holy hell out of a liquid. Of course you will need to have your liquid in a glass or beaker so the device would fit in there and have it be tall enough so liquid doesn't come flying back out at you.

I read that people were mixing a liquid for a few minutes until the liquid was "white" and full of air bubbles (similar to when you shake the crap out of a juice bottle, but magnified by 100). Then letting the liquid settle down again so no bubbles are present, and repeating a few more times.

One guy stated it made a custard mix of his that normally requires 3 weeks of steep time only require 3 days to achieve the same results.

I've been away from the DIY game for a while, so this might be a common method a lot of people are using these days.

Steeping is one of the most annoying things to deal with in the DIY game IMO. It sucks to have to wait so long to see if your mix is right, or even just mixing up different percentages of a new flavor for testing, and having to wait for that to insure an accurate taste test. I think this frother is much less destructive as hot water baths, microwaves, etc.

This is the device I'm talking about... There's a ton of different ones out there.

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[Exchaner]

One thing I have noticed is that air plays a more important role than heat in steeping flavors. Some say shaking contributes to harshness due to nic oxidation, and assuming that is true - which I am not sure - you can always add your nic afterwards.

I like that frother, but what do you do for your small 5 ml samples?

 

[Andy79Z28]

Here you go real easy to make

 

[Alter]

Its easy to overoxidize your juice and like stated by Exchaner by adding too much air. I make my juice without nic, warm up the base in hot water for a few minutes, mix it with my magnetic mixer for a while then let it settle down overnight letting all the air bubbles dissipate. Mix it again then let it sit for a few days. Taste it to check if its worth putting the nic into. Slowly add the nic then mix a short time again to incorporate the nic with as little added air as possible...let it steep. I have to let my tobaccos steep for extended periods of time since I refuse to heat steep any juice in which has the same side effects as over oxidizing...YUK juice.
I don't add any nic at all to my tobacco absolutes then blend them with other steeped tobaccos then add the balance of nic offset by the TA. I'm a patient man, I have no problem having a juice sit for up to a month so it can blossom to its full potential.

 

[Tucsonbroker]

Here you go real easy to make

I liked the simplicity, but that would smash the plastic bottles

 

[Andy79Z28]

It does not smash the plastic bottles been doing it for months now. It is a squeeze clamp just make it tight enough to hold the bottle. only need 10 seconds to mix

 

[Tucsonbroker]

It does not smash the plastic bottles been doing it for months now. It is a squeeze clamp just make it tight enough to hold the bottle. only need 10 seconds to mix

Good to know, I'll try it!

 

[Andy79Z28]

The clamp was $5 at Home Depot... Harbor Freight $ .99

 

[Gummy Bare]

I like that frother, but what do you do for your small 5 ml samples?

Yeah, it would only work for larger batches. Small test bottles would still require a different method. I know some of the frothers have removable wands (or whatever you call the mixing end), mostly for cleaning. I wonder if anyone makes a micro sized one that would fit in a juice bottle. Probably not though.



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[Gummy Bare]

Its easy to overoxidize your juice and like stated by Exchaner by adding too much air. I make my juice without nic, warm up the base in hot water for a few minutes, mix it with my magnetic mixer for a while then let it settle down overnight letting all the air bubbles dissipate. Mix it again then let it sit for a few days. Taste it to check if its worth putting the nic into. Slowly add the nic then mix a short time again to incorporate the nic with as little added air as possible...let it steep. I have to let my tobaccos steep for extended periods of time since I refuse to heat steep any juice in which has the same side effects as over oxidizing...YUK juice.
I don't add any nic at all to my tobacco absolutes then blend them with other steeped tobaccos then add the balance of nic offset by the TA. I'm a patient man, I have no problem having a juice sit for up to a month so it can blossom to its full potential.

Yeah, I'm down with letting things sit for a long time as well to get to their full flavor potential... That's mostly with purchased juices that are made to order for me ATM. I'm getting back into DIY and I'm trying to read and find out as much as I can on speed steeping so I can cut down the wait game on testing different flavors or mixes.

To much air does sound like it could have negative affects. I guess I could use the frother, then seal the juice in a bottle while the bubbles settle, then repeat the process. Maybe that would cut down on the oxidation more than letting it "air out" on the table while it settles/bubbles disappear.

What's this magnetic mixer thing your talking about? I've got one of those ultrasonic things (mostly for cleaning vape gear).... Never heard of a magnetic mixer before.


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[Alter]

The DIY version of the magnetic mixer I used a black project box, old comp fan, a hardrive magnet, switch from a auto store, old 12 volt power supply and had to buy some small stirbars. Youtube will show you how to put one together and they work great. I have a fan control so I can barely stir right up to making a vortex. I set a timer for a couple hours, set it mixing at my desired speed then walk away. The magnetic mixer IMO does speed up steep time some and I can mix without shaking or adding extra air to my juices. I bought itty bitty stirbar small enough that I can mix in a 5ml, 10ml bottle up to 50ml easily. I had originally planned to buy a ultrasonic cleaner but dropping 100+ bucks for a nice one vs. the cheap crappy ones I couldn't see myself doing that. My DIY mixer cost me inside 10 bucks since I already had the project box kicking around for years but spent the money on 25ml, 50ml, 100ml beakers and wire top glass bottles from the dollar store to mix and store my juices in.

 

[Tucsonbroker]

Here's my adaptation of the clamp above to fit on my reciprocating saw... great suggestion! I also drilled out a .375 hole on the end pad to hold the tip of the plastic bottles. Makes a snug fit.

Clamp

• Tucsonbroker
• Aug 20, 2015

 

[Andy79Z28]

There you go...told you it works well.... I just filed down the end of the clamp to fit in the saw. Good idea about the hole in the end pad.....modification time.