Fun with drip tips

[Ryedan]

I've been thinking of getting a small milling machine and metal lathe for a while now and finally bit the bullet earlier this year. I worked as a machinist building plastic injection moulds for the better part of two decades so I'm pretty comfortable with these puppies.

After getting the new machines set up, checked out and a few projects completed I thought it would be neat to make a few custom drip tips just for fun.

So I thought a bit about how to best go about making what I was after, DT's with a metal stem for durability and easily exchangeable wood or some other interesting material around them. This is what I've come up with so far ...

A DT stem with O-ring grooves in SS:

Add a few O-rings and a wood sleeve on the upper part of the stem and you get this (this sleeve is stabilized maple burl dyed red, my favorite so far )

Then add sleeves at will. Left to right are hard white maple, African ebony and ziricote, none stabilized. Then the stabilized red maple burl. The three at the right are acrylic. The acrylic buffs up very easily to a nice shine and has been very durable the last few weeks, but I can see through them to the O-rings in spots so I'm not impressed with them for this design.

Finishing these with CA has been the biggest learning curve for me. I knew how to finish wood with polyurethane, shellac, varnish, etc, but those are not good options for DTs so I've been working with CA from the start. I think I'm going to stick with stabilized wood and CA now that I know how well that works and look for a few more ideas in plastic

 

[Lessifer]

Beautiful work and great idea for adding variety without having to get used to a bunch of different DT's.

 

[Paul lamb]

Brilliant work

I hope you can profit from your enthusiasm and skills

 

[28if]

Very nice work.

 

[zoiDman]

I've been thinking of getting a small milling machine and metal lathe for a while now and finally bit the bullet earlier this year. ...

Cool.

What type of Machine Tool did you buy?

 

[wvducklady]

Those are gorgeous! I absolutely love those!

 

[Ryedan]

Beautiful work and great idea for adding variety without having to get used to a bunch of different DT's.

Thank you Lessifer

The ability to make a simple sleeve and just swap them on a stem is interesting. I've been thinking of different outside shapes I can play with too.The ones I started with are the size and shape I like vaping on best so far, but once you start thinking of possibilities it's almost endless.

I know, I gotta get a life, but I mean .... drip tips

 

[Ryedan]

Cool.

What type of Machine Tool did you Buy?

I got a Grizzly G0602 lathe and G0759 mill zoiDman. CNC would have been nice, I've done quite a bit of CNC programming and machining over the years so I know what I'm missing. I opted for the extra power for now and the ability to retrofit if I ever chose to do that.

It's worked out well, I'm very happy with the machines. Grizzly worked with me on an issue I had with the lathe and got parts to me in a few days. Great customer service, as they are known for and why I bought from them.

 

[zoiDman]

I got a Grizzly G0602 lathe and G0759 mill zoiDman. CNC would have been nice, I've done quite a bit of CNC programming and machining over the years so I know what I'm missing. I opted for the extra power for now and the ability to retrofit if I ever chose to do that.

It's worked out well, I'm very happy with the machines. Grizzly worked with me on an issue I had with the lathe and got parts to me in a few days. Great customer service, as they are known for and why I bought from them.

Very Nice! I wish I had the Space to do the Same.

Yeah... I have written a Lot of Code myself. CNC's most definitely have Benefits. But you are also into another Level of Pricing to get the Rigidity and the HP seen on Lower Cost manual Mills/Lathes.

 

[Lessifer]

Thank you Lessifer

The ability to make a simple sleeve and just swap them on a stem is interesting. I've been thinking of different outside shapes I can play with too.The ones I started with are the size and shape I like vaping on best so far, but once you start thinking of possibilities it's almost endless.

I know, I gotta get a life, but I mean .... drip tips

Drip tips are an often overlooked, yet vital part of the vaping experience IMO. Maybe people just stick with whatever comes with their tank nowadays, but I've found that changing the DT can effect everything from flavor, to temperature, to volume of vapor, and that's not even considering the comfort factor.

 

[zoiDman]

Drip tips are an often overlooked, yet vital part of the vaping experience IMO. Maybe people just stick with whatever comes with their tank nowadays, but I've found that changing the DT can effect everything from flavor, to temperature, to volume of vapor, and that's not even considering the comfort factor.

Damn Right they Do.

How many times have you gotten an RDA or an RTA and it was OK. But after trying 3 or 4 Different Drip Tips from the Vape Drawer you find one that now makes your RDA or RTA Good? Or sometimes even Great!

 

[Ryedan]

Very Nice! I wish I had the Space to do the Same.

Yeah... I have written a Lot of Code myself. CNC's most definitely have Benefits. But you are also into another Level of Pricing to get the Rigidity and the HP seen on Lower Cost manual Mills/Lathes.

You know what you're talking about zoiDman . If you don't mind my asking, what is your background in machining?

It really doesn't take that much space for a couple of small machines like these. I use part of my one car garage, but a room in the basement can work well too. The mill would be fairly easy to get into a house, but this lathe weighs a bit over 300 lbs if I remember the specs right and you need to have it firmly attached to a skid to keep it stable while moving it. OTOH, with a bit of planning it can certainly be done.

 

[zoiDman]

You know what you're talking about zoiDman . If you don't mind my asking, what is your background in machining?

...

My machining background has mainly been Centered around Programming Vertical Mills doing 3rd, 4th and 5 Axis 3D.

Out of college and Not knowing what to do with a degree in Mathematics, I fell in with a Sub-Prime Aerospace company and climbed up the ranks from set-up/operations of Manuals, Power Mills and Hydraulic Profilers to NC's running Tape (Yes... I said Punched Tape.). I liked working with my Hands. And the Money was Great in that the Machinist were doing it via Contract.

CNC's were still Relatively New and Very Expensive. And there was an Extreme Shortage of people who could Program them. So I got into CNC Set-Up/Programming. It was a way to keep moving Up.

Got good at being able to do Surface work with CNC Verticals on Parts that were bid at 5-Axis pricing. Companies Loved this. Bounced around for awhile doing Contract Mill Programming. Did a lot of Surface and Die Work. Did some work in a Laser/Water Jet house. Worked for Prime and helped them Set-Up/Ran a CNC Department.

I kinda Burned out on the Unpredictability of Contracting and Ups and Downs of Aerospace. And thru an associate, landed a Position at a College teaching Math and Technical Applications. So I split time for a number of years between Teaching and part-time Contract Programming.

Retired from Teaching. But still keep my hand in Programming for a few customers. They only send me the "Hard Stuff" that they Can't do In-House with their programmers. LOL.

 

[Lessifer]

Careful Ryedan, you're in danger of becoming a Tobacco Product Component Manufacturer.