Just getting started in DIY

[vapomike]

So this is my approach to this whole DIY business. I want to make ~3mg max vg juice for my dripper. I understand it takes time to figure out recipes and get the flavor right. My plan is to take a gallon of USP VG and add nicotine vg base turn it into 4mg unflavored juice. Then start making recipes from this supply. I understand that as I add flavoring the mg/ml will drop and that's the reason I'm starting at 4mg. Should I start higher than this if I want ~3mg after flavoring and is this a good approach to take just starting out?

 

[Friscoweather]

That's not really the way I would do it. Your nicotine strength will be diluted down once you add flavoring.

Get yourself a good juice calculator and play around. That will give you a better feel of what you're dealing with.

 

[JohnnyDill]

eJuice Me Up - Best eJuice Calculator Breakthru's juice calculator works well for me and many others.

 

[Train2]

You'll likely be a little "high" on nic (lol).
For instance:
To try a mix that's 10% flavor, you'd have say 9 mls of your nic base + 1 ml of flavor.
That's 4x9 = 36 mg of nic in 10 mls total, for 3.6mg/ml
To try a mix that's 20% flavor, you'd have say 8 mls of your nic base + 2 mls of flavor.
That's 4x8 = 32 mg of nic in 10 mls total, for 3.2mg/ml

You can pretty easily get it exact though - starting with either the 4 mg base, or starting with the raw materials, and using one of the e-juice calculators. I like ejuicemeup - if you're working with a PC, it's awesome. For an app or an apple, you'd need a different one...

So this is my approach to this whole DIY business. I want to make ~3mg max vg juice for my dripper. I understand it takes time to figure out recipes and get the flavor right. My plan is to take a gallon of USP VG and add nicotine vg base turn it into 4mg unflavored juice. Then start making recipes from this supply. I understand that as I add flavoring the mg/ml will drop and that's the reason I'm starting at 4mg. Should I start higher than this if I want ~3mg after flavoring and is this a good approach to take just starting out?

 

[Train2]

doubledouble

 

[Steamer861]

I use a Mac and have to use a web based calculator DIY E-Liquid Calculator Ten Flavors With Nic. - PG/VG Adjust
Like has all ready bin mentioned you should just mix as you go. Good idea to keep your nic in the freezer in a dark glass bottles for long term storage

 

[vapomike]

Do any recipes really require more than 20% flavoring? I'm happy with those variances and if I really wanted to I could just add plain glycerin to achieve the dead on 3mg/ml target. Which really isn't my focus here. I have 3 goals with this DIY. Cheap, tasty, and max vg juices for my dripper. The exact nicotine level isn't of major concern as long as it isn't over 6mg. Which if I start with 4 would be impossible to screw up that part. There seems to be a whole lot of omg this tastes like crap threads than nic content threads here. I really don't want to be in that I can't get this to taste right. I would rather premix the nic down to around my target then add the flavorings. TBH the reason I came up with the 4mg base is because it's easy to make. 160ml of 100mg will turn a gallon into 4mg juice. To me it just seems simpler this way... I just need to find a really big dark glass container for the base.

 

[d4gger]

The only problem I see is if you overflow your gallon container while mixing. I am assuming you intend to break the gallon into pints or quarts for freezer storage after shaking the fluff out of that gallon to ensure thorough mixing.

 

[vapomike]

I haven't made a decision on the storage of juice. Although looking at my options online I'll probably be making smaller batches at a time.

 

[Steamer861]

vapomike some flavouring like TFA or MBV you will use 20% or more others like Inawera and flavour Art you will use 3 to 5%
mixing all you nic and VG together is a mistake IMO
I bought 1 litre of 100mg I broke it up into 4 dark bottles of 250ml each I have 3 in the freezer and 1 in use
It is so easy to just mix up what I need when I need it with the online calculator I know exactly what each batch is
I have progressively bin reducing my nic every few months
If you mix everything together you will never really know exactly what % of nic is in your juice

 

[Hoosier]

Do any recipes really require more than 20% flavoring?

I have a few, not many, but a few.

There seems to be a whole lot of omg this tastes like crap threads than nic content threads here. I really don't want to be in that I can't get this to taste right.

An amazingly high % of those are crap base(s). (Even when it doesn't seem like it in the beginning, it usually comes down to that in the final post of discovery...when we get a final post of discovery, that is...) Seems to me that if you don't want that, it would be best to go with the odds instead of against. Even the best vendors have had poor tasting base go out their doors. Be a darn shame if you ended up with more than a gallon of crap base.

I've never pre-diluted more than a few 100 ml's and that was before I was planning on sitting down and making quite a bunch of mixes in a few days. I've learned more than a bit from throwing crap juice down the drain. It's one of the best ways I learn, so I'm not saying to not dilute down a whole bunch of base for a beginning, but you should be aware of the risks at the very least.

 

[vapomike]

Why wouldn't you know? If you use a certain amount of 100mg base and a certain amount of VG and mix them together thoroughly then you can use a calculator and get your cut base %. Am I missing something?

 

[vapomike]

I was planning on using nude nicotine for the 100mg base and was going to find some USP 99.7% glycerin on amazon. Is the glycerin okay to accrue through Amazon?

 

[Rat2chat2]

I would suggest reading some of the DIY threads on ecf. Here is a website that I found useful when I first started and still use their calculators. I agree buying the vg in that quantity is a good savings. I get my vg from Essental Depot and have been very pleased. The percentage of flavoring really depends on you taste buds and the type of flavoring you are using. I use highly concentrated flavorings that I get from Vaping Zone. You only use 1%-3% in a recipe as opposed to 20% required by other flavorings.

Do It Yourself E-Liquid (E-Juice) Recipe Mixing Station!

Good luck to you.

 

[UrKillingMeSmalls]

Vapomike, we meet again hehe. Diy just make sense when you chain vape on rdas!

 

[Subdivisions]

He's saying that sometimes you can get some bad PG, VG or nicotine that doesn't taste right or is harsh. Test out a small batch of unflavored base before mixing it all together. I'd personally leave it all in separate containers. Maybe someone will want to buy one of your mixes from you but want it at 12 or 18 mg/ml.

 

[Boletus]

Unless you plan on using it up quickly, or have lots of space in your freezer and are certain your nicotine concentration preference will not change, I would not mix a gallon of anything ahead of time. Nicotine degrades over time, and people's preferences change as well. A gallon is 3,785 ml, after all.