I started out using syringes with blunt tip needles. I finally bought a 0.00 gram scale and I love it. I still use the 1 or 3 ml syringe for getting my nic out of the bottle. Do you prefer measuring by volume, weight, or ml?
How do you prefer to mea sure your recipe?
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I use volume with either syringes or a graduated cylinder. The easiest way for me but some swear by weight mixing.
By weight. Works for me... 
I mix by weight, from dropper/squeeze bottle directly into dropper/squeeze bottle. With rare exceptions, if a supplier doesn't offer their flavoring in a dropper bottle, I buy somewhere else. Too many (ANY) syringes, beakers, droppers, etc. causes severe distress when I'm at the mixing table. In other words, I'm very lazy and hate cleaning up. When I mix my bases, I pour VG/PG directly from their wide-mouth gallon bottles. I keep my VG-based nic in the fridge so it's nice and thick and pourable directly from its bottle. The only thing I use a syringe for is transferring flavors from large bottles to small dropper bottles, though i always try pouring directly first.
I used to do it with syringes but once I learned to do it by weight it's never going back, I mix directly to the bottle everything I have has dropper caps
It kinda Depends on what I'm Measuring.
For measuring 100mg/ml Nicotine Base to make "Pre-Mix", a Line on a 250ml Bottle is Enough.
For measuring VG and PG to add to my 250ml Pre-Mix Bottle, a Graduated Cylinder is Fine.
For Measuring Flavoring to be added with the Pre-Mix, a Scale (to me) is Hard to Beat.
I mix by volume(ml) directly into the bottle that will hold my final ejuice. Using syringes from 1ml (for nic, flavors) and all sizes in between(also for flavors) up to 60ml(used for pg/vg). I just put a luer lock stopper screwed right on the end of the syringe and measure the ml and pour into the mixing bottle. When using the 1 ml syringe I use a 14 gauge needle to pull my nic and transfer it into the mixing bottle. Super easy, very little clean up. I tried to mix by weight but none of my mixes tasted the same as when I mix with volume.
I was wondering if I would have any issues with this so I tried to buy a very accurate scale.. Still might but I hope not..I love how quick it is and the easy clean up.I tried to mix by weight but none of my mixes tasted the same as when I mix with volume.
My regular DIY sessions where I mix six 50ml batches into glass bottles are scale based measurements using an LB-501 digital scale.
If I'm doing flavor testing in 15ml LDPE bottles I use a syringe to measure an transfer 10ml unflavored pre-mix to the 15ml bottle and then I use the dropper bottle that the flavor comes in to add flavor, leaving some air space for shaking.
I guess the answer is both weight and liquid measure depending on the batch size. What ever floats your boat is the way you should do it. Try both and decide.
If I'm doing flavor testing in 15ml LDPE bottles I use a syringe to measure an transfer 10ml unflavored pre-mix to the 15ml bottle and then I use the dropper bottle that the flavor comes in to add flavor, leaving some air space for shaking.
I guess the answer is both weight and liquid measure depending on the batch size. What ever floats your boat is the way you should do it. Try both and decide.
Volume or ml? Same thing, there are only two choices.
I've owned gram scales for decades and use them for weighing objects, powders, and other non-liquid substances.
Liquids are best measured by volume. Otherwise, their density must be factored into calculations to know 'how much' to use. An unnecessary complication. All of the recipes I've seen give measurements by percentage volume, or milliliters, or drops ... all volume, the way it should be. Measuring by drop count is very imprecise though, as different viscosity liquids and different dropper types produce different size drops.
I use syringes, pipettes, and beakers. Graduated cylinders might be useful too, but I don't presently own one.
High precision can be had with the smaller syringes and pipettes, like 0.01ml which is plenty precise enough even for highly concentrated flavorings. I have found pipettes to be a bit problematic with highly viscous liquids. But, with a 14 gauge needle on a syringe there's no problem.
Just another person's opinion. Thanks for letting me speak. :~)
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It might be interesting to see the resultant volume in two bottles side by side after using both methods. DIY by weight does depend on accurate calibration of liquid gram weights, but the two that would be critical are flavor and nicotine. The nic varies with the pg/vg ratio and flavors would vary by the ingredients. Gram weight entry IS important if you mix by weight.
Flavors also vary according to Botboy141's measurements of a number of flavors. His actual flavor testing measurements vary from .93 grams/ml to 1.07 grams/ml on the MSDS sheet among different brands and flavors, so lots of us just use 1 gram/ml for an average gram weight in the calculator. If you do that you may be off a maximum plus/minus .07g. That's a variance of 1.4 drops per gram gross variance.
I wonder if a beaker with a mix line on the side would be variance detectable if you were under or over by .07 drops per milliliter in nic or flavor in an average recipe.
Botboy141 Guide to Mixing By Weight • r/DIY_eJuice
Flavors also vary according to Botboy141's measurements of a number of flavors. His actual flavor testing measurements vary from .93 grams/ml to 1.07 grams/ml on the MSDS sheet among different brands and flavors, so lots of us just use 1 gram/ml for an average gram weight in the calculator. If you do that you may be off a maximum plus/minus .07g. That's a variance of 1.4 drops per gram gross variance.
I wonder if a beaker with a mix line on the side would be variance detectable if you were under or over by .07 drops per milliliter in nic or flavor in an average recipe.
Botboy141 Guide to Mixing By Weight • r/DIY_eJuice
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I make the same couple recipes over and over for several guys at work.. If I'm using the same recipe, same ingredients, and the same scale, am I theoretically making identical batches or is my 0.00 gram scale varying enough to not be an identical juice?
By weight. I'll never go back to volume.
Amazon.com: WAOAW 500g/0.01g Digital Pocket Stainless Jewelry & Kitchen food Scale, Lab Weight, 0.001oz Resolution: Kitchen & Dining
I damaged that one yesterday and had to go out mid-mixing to buy this one (which works fine):
CP-200 200-GRAM MINI POCKET SCALE, With 0.01g RESOLUTION.
There's a wonderful web-site (we can't link to here) for E-Liquid Recipes (ELR). Their database of flavors has many manufacturer-published specific gravities already built in, so when you build your recipe by flavoring percentage for a set volume, it'll have the proper weight of each listed for you. Or you can just use 1g/mL like @DaveP just said above: you won't be too far off, or no moreso than the margin of error from imperfect transfer when pouring out of a cylinder, or staring at marks on a tiny syringe. So much faster, easier, and cleaner to weigh everything right into the final bottle.
Amazon.com: WAOAW 500g/0.01g Digital Pocket Stainless Jewelry & Kitchen food Scale, Lab Weight, 0.001oz Resolution: Kitchen & Dining
I damaged that one yesterday and had to go out mid-mixing to buy this one (which works fine):
CP-200 200-GRAM MINI POCKET SCALE, With 0.01g RESOLUTION.
There's a wonderful web-site (we can't link to here) for E-Liquid Recipes (ELR). Their database of flavors has many manufacturer-published specific gravities already built in, so when you build your recipe by flavoring percentage for a set volume, it'll have the proper weight of each listed for you. Or you can just use 1g/mL like @DaveP just said above: you won't be too far off, or no moreso than the margin of error from imperfect transfer when pouring out of a cylinder, or staring at marks on a tiny syringe. So much faster, easier, and cleaner to weigh everything right into the final bottle.
It's plenty good enough to get as close to "identical" as makes no difference!
If you use/do Everything the Same, I highly doubt there will be any Perceivable difference in taste.
Thanks.. I didn't think so but just wanted an opinion.. As long as any method is repeatable then it's just personal preference I guess
See... That's really the Key to DIY. Repeatable Precision. Not Numerical Accuracy.
if you like the Taste of a Mix, it really Doesn't Matter if it is Accurate to arbitrary numbers. The Only thing that matters is can you make it again and have it Taste the Same.
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