Graduated cylinders – are they good or bad?

[RWClark]

I used cylinders all the time and really liked them. Then my wife (a nurse) got me some really big syringes that they use for making up IV bags. 36 and 50ml. To get to the bottom of a large bottle I cut the bulb off of a pipette and used the body as an extension. Does not change measurements and works great. My cylinders now just add an air of mad scientist to my desk.

 

[Stacy1]

Lol, for serious? They're only like 3 bucks at wizard labs...

LMAO! Don't ask me why, but I did not think to look at prices on WL. I buy my flavorings from there but have found that items like syringes, needles and what not I could usually find cheaper on ebay. The ones I found on ebay ranged from 7-15.00 which I could deal with, but everyone charges as much or more for the shipping as the cylinder so I was looking at around 20.00 each. Just checked shipping on WL and it was 2.00 and some change for a single cylinder. Going to load my cart. THANKS

 

[BigCap]

LMAO! Don't ask me why, but I did not think to look at prices on WL. I buy my flavorings from there but have found that items like syringes, needles and what not I could usually find cheaper on ebay. The ones I found on ebay ranged from 7-15.00 which I could deal with, but everyone charges as much or more for the shipping as the cylinder so I was looking at around 20.00 each. Just checked shipping on WL and it was 2.00 and some change for a single cylinder. Going to load my cart. THANKS

oh yeah you can get blunt tips, syringes etc..on ebay much cheaper than WL. Same goes with the plastic bottles in bulk. I usually pick up my samplers, 10ml empty plastic bottles in 50 packs. You can get them for under $5.

And don't forget with WL if you order $65, you get free shipping. I just ordered from them last week. Now I just need to make a premium style recipe. I am still looking to make a recipe that's "WOW!" I just have "eh this will work because its cheaper than the mall". Lol

 

[Stacy1]

The only downside to doing diy is the time it takes to get good at it. I make some of the recipes posted in the diy section just to keep from getting bored with it but I'm still in the making small single flavor batches stage. It makes sense that to make good mixes you have to know what each individual flavor is going to add to the mix, but I went nuts when ordering flavorings. I'll still be taste testing single flavors for months lol

 

[Jimi D.]

I love syringes ! That's all I use. For large batches I use a 25 ml syringe. I also use 12 gauge blunt tip needles for VG

 

[Stacy1]

I love my syringes also, but when making a 240ml batch of base my 12ml syringe just isn't cutting it. I made 120ml of base the other day and ended up using an ounce and a half shot glass that had markings for half an ounce and one ounce. Was a lot faster pouring 30ml at a time versus drawing 12ml of vg at a time through a syringe

 

[dannyv45]

I bought a 10-mL graduated glass cylinder, used it once, And never used it again, due to the vg being so thick, and sticking to the bottom & sides. You will never get it all out. I suppose it would be handy for 100% pg juices.

I tend to agree with you that 10ml cylinders are a waste. A 10ml syringe will work well. The larger cylinders of 50ml and up are of great value when measuring out bulk liquids.

 

[dannyv45]

The only downside to doing diy is the time it takes to get good at it.

Ahh but once your good at it, your good at it for life

 

[Stacy1]

Ahh but once your good at it, your good at it for life

Looking forward to getting there. I'm willing to put in the time, but as with everything else, I'm just impatient

 

[mattiem]

I have syringes from 2.5ml up to 60ml. when making my base pg/vg/nic. I normally make up 120 ml 50/50 at a time. I never use the needle when doing this. In fact I NEVER try to use a needle to draw up VG. I use my 60ml syringe. Remove the plunger, hold my finger over the needle end. Pour my vg/pg/or nic into the syringe body. Quickly remove finger and insert the needle end of the syringe onto the top of my 120ml glass bottle. Replace the plunger into the syringe and push the liquid into the bottle. Sounds a lot more complicated than it really is. Takes me longer to get the pg/vg/nic/bottle and syringe out of the cabinet than it does to mix up a bottle of it.

 

[JimmyDB]

I have syringes from 2.5ml up to 60ml. when making my base pg/vg/nic. I normally make up 120 ml 50/50 at a time. I never use the needle when doing this. In fact I NEVER try to use a needle to draw up VG. I use my 60ml syringe. Remove the plunger, hold my finger over the needle end. Pour my vg/pg/or nic into the syringe body. Quickly remove finger and insert the needle end of the syringe onto the top of my 120ml glass bottle. Replace the plunger into the syringe and push the liquid into the bottle. Sounds a lot more complicated than it really is. Takes me longer to get the pg/vg/nic/bottle and syringe out of the cabinet than it does to mix up a bottle of it.

Yup. I agree this works well. I do't use my finger to block the outlet, but the same idea. This is basically using the syringe as a graduated cylinder, except this cylinder accepts a plunger!

 

[fat1]

I am still very new to all this but I have been mixing by weight. there is some waste due to what sticks to the transferring container but since you can mix it right in the target container you know the target measurement is accurate. I am still trying different containers storing and for transferring because we will be making 500ml at a time. I have premixed 2 liters of the base at 70pg/30vg/8mg. I'll split those liter bottles into some 8oz (250ml) squeeze bottles and add the flavor (plus a small amount of nic/vg to keep it square). the squeeze bottles make it easy to fill up the 50ml bottles we carry with us.

for our test batches, by weight, I typically pour 10 gram in a 10ml bottle and add .1 gram (or less) of the test flavor. I like the lack of dishes to wash and the fact I can weigh the test bottle and add another 1% by of flavor (.08) to go up or add more base if desired.

I know it wasnt the question asked but I wrestled with the same concept of the liquid staying in the container and I better understood the weight concept. Plus being new I didn' have any preconceived recipes that needed converted so it was easier to just start this way

 

[montara]

Polymethylpentene Plastic... what a great name.
As much as I like glass for all my juice, I long ago switched to plastic for graduated measurements. Bought the set from 10>100ml and their the go to. With plastic every drop falls right out with zero left behind. Kinda like a Teflon coated cylinder.
Also verifying the per-marked measurements with syringes ensured accuracy.