My DIY Home Depot Atomizer

[meatsneakers]

Hi All,

I've been lurking for months, studying everyones great ideas as well as commercial rebuildable atomizers and have come up with my own design. My goal was to find all the parts needed at the local Home Depot, total cost under $15, buildable using only hand tools and no use of glue or epoxy.

My parts list:
1/2 inch barbed to female SharkBite PEX connector for the upper body
1/2 inch barbed to male SharkBite PEX connector for the lower body (price shown is for the 5 pack, but the local store carried the single pack for $1.50)
1/4 inch nylon spacer for the positive terminal
(2) Dremel Threaded Mandrels for posts. These are available in-store but not on the site.
3/8 inch aluminum rod to hold the posts, press fit into bottom body.
A multi-pack of rubber O-rings for the body to body connection.
(2) Old Boge SS cartomizers. This is the only thing I didn't pick up in-store. They are used to provide the connection to the 510 connector as well press-fit into the top body to hold a drip tip.

I used a "poor-man's" lathe to speed up the process of grinding the PEX barbs off -a drill on a vise with the connector in the chuck, set to low speed with a lamp dimmer and using metal files to grind away the excess material.

Standard drill sizes were used to drill the holes in the aluminum for the posts. I believe the negative post was 1/8th inch and the positive post was 3/16ths to account for the nylon washer.

The nylon washer was sanded down to press fit into the hole. I used the corner of a small file on my "lathe" to create a groove for the O-ring.

Everything was press-fit with a small vise and some washers. The pictures should make this much clearer:

 

[GitMoe]

What did you use for the coil and wick? Very interesting design...

 

[meatsneakers]

I used silica rope from McMasterCarr and nichrome from Nichrome Wire. I'm not sure if this would work with SS mesh like the Genesis but I may pick some up to try it.

 

[GitMoe]

What about the connection for the terminal posts to the battery connection? Can't figure out how you did that...

 

[meatsneakers]

I soldered a wire to the mandrel then the other end to the center of the Boge carto before I press fit everything. The nylon washer is the insulator.

 

[GitMoe]

Thats what I figured. Good info. I've been thinking about building an atty for a while. This makes me wanna do it more...

 

[meatsneakers]

I spent a lot of time in those plumbing isles This took me a solid afternoon of tinkering but it's been worth it to never have to buy another atty.

 

[Gummy Bear]

Well alright,,, my kind of modder.
(now break out the brasso) it looks good enough to have it plated in 24 ct. gold. But then you won't need the brasso.

 

[meatsneakers]

I've been considering getting the exterior painted to match my RoughStack... or maybe a brass mod

 

[Mr.Self_Destruct]

Great job! I like what you did there.

My only concern is if the juice will be contaminated by the brass. You don't want to use brass where it will be in contact with the juice you vape.

From the picture I can't really tell, but I thought I would mention that to you just in case.

 

[meatsneakers]

I was also concerned about that but if I tuck the wick in under the coil, it doesn't touch any brass. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Gummy Bear]

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[5cardstud]

I spent a lot of time in those plumbing isles This took me a solid afternoon of tinkering but it's been worth it to never have to buy another atty.

I'm on a first name basis with all the plumbing isle guys and gals I've been there so many times. Great post and great job.

 

[Gummy Bear]

I'm on a first name basis with all the plumbing isle guys and gals I've been there so many times. Great post and great job.

So your the one they have all been talking about.

 

[Scubabatdan]

I used silica rope from McMasterCarr and nichrome from Nichrome Wire. I'm not sure if this would work with SS mesh like the Genesis but I may pick some up to try it.

Oh yeah, it will work with the SS wick, I did this with Nhaler's ATO-MISER and it worked really well:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/nhaler/166464-genisis-ato-miser.html

Dan

 

[meatsneakers]

I'll give it a shot then Dan. BTW I've been following many of your ideas since I joined ECF and they got me thinking to come up with this, so thank you.

 

[asdaq]

Very creative design and I like the rugged looks. I admire your lathe work too. I'm not quite sure I follow, but what is the material between the posts and along the inside of the vaping chamber? when it comes to tooling a ....... file I've found is good too, along with other. files and various grades of sandpaper, but the main blade of an imitation swiss army knife held at varying. angles shapes and removes the best. the rest I prefer for finishing. of course use protective eyewear and all. that jazz...

 

[Gummy Bear]

I broke down and bought a couple real lathe bits to clamp in my vise (about 4 bucks each).
Now I just need a compound vise. (or a real lathe).

 

[meatsneakers]

The material between the posts is 3/8" aluminum rod, cut to approximately 3/8" long and press fit into the PEX connector. And I did indeed use a ....... file to get rid of the bulk of the material, following with a finer file to get a nicer finish and finally with some 180 grit sandpaper to get rid of any surface imperfections. It was slow going, but there wasn't much danger with the chuck spinning slowly and away from the tool. A mini lathe is definitely on my 'to buy' tool list though.

 

[asdaq]

Gummy, you get the bigger chuck yet? I'm thinking about something like that as I can hold a maximum of 12mm in my 13mm chuck. Not that a battery cup would be possible, but for forty bucks it could be worth it. I got some wood lathe tooling, but they suck.

Meat, I think we'd all like a real mini lathe deep down, except for Dan perhaps.