[Newbie Help] First Order

[Liskrig]

Okay, I like ordering juice... I like exploring the odd and different creations people can come up with, sometimes being transported to a different time in my life that I fondly remember because of the memories a scent, or taste triggers.

BUT... with that being said, I am getting bored, and I'm feeling creative.

I have totaled up an order with RTS Vapes (site crashed though where I am and lost 33 items in my cart -_-), and MFS (below).

Here is what I ordered for my first DIY shipment:

• 500ml VG
• 500ml PG
• 125ml of 36mg VG nicotine
• Several 10ml flavorings (blue rasp, cola, creams, clove, tobacco...)
• 10x 15ml plastic dropper bottles
• 25ml glass graduated cylinder
• 2x 125ml amber glass bottles (to break up the PG & VG)
• 1x 30ml syringe with 1" blunt needle tips

I'm looking to make 70+VG blends, and maybe 50/50 blends (for my standard tanks) and I'm moving down to 3mg across the board for all juice. I'm going to get safety equipment (gloves, glasses...) locally.

Just looking to see if any of the DIY-ers here can think of anything else I would need to start-up. I also made the mistake of not doing research on prices before I started saving up, so I have an above-average budget for my first order lol

As always, any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Larry J]

You don't really need to break up the PG and VG unless you're just doing it for convenience in mixing. It's the nic base that people usually break up into smaller bottles for freezing. I keep my PG and VG in the original one gallon plastic jugs they came in, then pour into smaller bottles (for convenience) when I'm about to mix something.

 

[Liskrig]

You don't really need to break up the PG and VG unless you're just doing it for convenience in mixing. It's the nic base that people usually break up into smaller bottles for freezing. I keep my PG and VG in the original one gallon plastic jugs they came in, then pour into smaller bottles (for convenience) when I'm about to mix something.

Okay. That makes sense. I was just concerned about handling the 500ml bottles and only pouring 7.5ml at a time for a base.

I may get a few more though to store the nic.

Thank you @Larry J !!!

 

[BrotherBob]

Several 10ml flavorings (blue rasp, cola, creams, clove, tobacco...)

Not the best way to stock up on flavors. Recommend that you find recipes you might like and order the flavors for those recipes only. This should save you some money. Could get 10 or so 3 and/or 5 mil squeeze bottles for recipe testing.
3ea.14 ga. blunt 1"-1 1/2"lg needles. 2 doz.18 ga blunt 1"-1 1/2"lg needles. and 2 doz. 1ml Syringes--optional*.
* You could get by with less if you do not mind having to clean your syringe after each different flavor injection.
Two doz is minimum quantity. 3 doz. to 4 is better.
If you have any additional questions just hit "like" at bottom right hand corner and I will get back to this thread.

 

[scotdc]

Buy a second syringe. I use one syringe for PG and one for VG when mixing. You don't want to be forced to wash out your one syringe halfway through mixing every bottle. I have a 60ml dropper bottle that I transfer my nicotine to - if you don't have that buy a third (smaller, 5ml would be OK) syringe for nicotine.
You might need Pipettes if your flavor concentrate isn't in a dropper bottle - I know Bull City's are, but I'm not sure about MFS.

 

[albcig]

it's a nice start. i started with 36mg/ml. soon enough i was buying 100mg/ml in liters. now i have a small laboratory making juice for myself and for most of my friends. bootless upon bootless steeping.

a bit of advice. steeping makes a huge difference in most of the flavors. buy as many flavors as u can in small quantities. you never know what you'll like. have fun mixing them together. buy some sort of coffee mixer. a cheap one will do fine.

 

[Capt.shay]

A 100 count of disposable pipets domestically and a 500 count package from China.

A scale. 500g x 0.01g High Precision Digital Scale SF-400D2 Counting w/ USB Wall Adapter

 

[Liskrig]

Thank you all for the replies!!!

I'm making a couple of accounts and saving as much as I can to them. Very valuable information here.


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[sketchness]

If you end up liking DIY I highly recommend the scale method. A good scale, glass droppers, and a couple funnels can be had on eBay for $35. Free shipping and all. I bought a couple Ldpe bottles with Yorker tops. Makes mixing test batches a breeze. No cleanup to speak of except rinsing the droppers.

I am the opposite of some. I try to get as many flavors as I can get my hands on. Then I buy the ones I like in larger bottles. Have fun and let us know what you come up with.

 

[sofarsogood]

Myy first DIY order from MFS was 1 liter each of 100mg nic, PG, and VG. I got one flavor to try. I got an empty 1 liter amber glass bottle to store the nic in the freezer and a 250 ml bottle for the short term nic supply. I accumulated some syringes in various sizes. Pharmacies are a good source. Explain what you are doing. I squeeze some vinyl tubing on the end of the syringe when the reach into the bottle is too far. I useually make 210 ml at a time, a 15 minute job. I poor directly into a 100 ml erlenmeyer flask to measure the PG and VG and then use syringes for the nic and flavoring. In a youtube video a guy at MFS insists you must wear protective gloves so I'm giving in on that. I think latex is sufficient but they sell an even less permeable nitrile glove, $2.50 for 5 pairs. That's a pretty reasonable price. The MSF guys would be a little spooked because they handle 100% pure nic which requires a hazmat suit and other precautions. 100mg is not so scary but I'll humor them.

I'm vaping away happily on DIY with just 3.5% of one flavor called Cuppuccino by Capella. Mixing only needs to be complicated if you want it that way. Avoid sweetners and sweetened flavorings your coils won't gunk up so fast.

 

[Hans Wermhat]

I mix up about 300 - 350 ml of juice every 2 weeks or so. It takes me about 2 hours and I make a dozen or so flavors. This is my entire set-up:

Tri Pour Beakers
100 ml x2

Graduated Cylinder - Polypropylene - 50ml
50 ml x1 ; 10 ml x2


Syringe with 18ga Needle
3 ml x2 - and I bought some larger gauge luer lock tips to make handling VG based nic easier.

I have a couple dozen bottles from when I bought pre-made juices, and I bought a few 250 ml & 125 ml amber glass bottles to break down 1L bottles of nic for storage. And some of these for the recipes that are nailed down and I make in 100 ml batches:
4oz Natural LDPE (Soft) Boston Round w/ Black Twist Top Cap

I have a few pipettes that came free with flavor orders, but I almost never use them.

I started off making 5 - 10 ml batches, but quickly found 2 recipes that I liked. I made a couple of 30 ml batches, then a 50 ml batch. Then I jumped to 100 ml in those 4oz bottles. When mixing, especially in larger batches, leave some headroom in the bottle. I mix 100 ml in those 4 oz (120 ml) bottles so there is room to shake them. If you fill a bottle all the way to the top, it's harder to get it mixed well. I use one syringe for nic, and the other for flavors that I need to measure in less than 1 ml increments.

Fruits steep faster and are more forgiving if you get the % wrong. Vanillas, tobaccos, bakery flavor need long steep times. Sometimes up to a month. When you get a new flavor, mix it up by itself the first time so you know how strong it is and what it tastes like. Take copious notes, even when you make something terrible. (This will happen!)

The best advice I can give you is to try not to over-complicate the process. Some folks want to make it into some kind of mad science experiment. Think of it more like bartending. A dash from this bottle... a few splashes from that one... pour it in the bottle, shake it, vape it. The only thing you can really do wrong is to put too much nic in it, so double check your math on that. When trying something new, make it 0 nic first. Nic is the most expensive component so don't waste it. Otherwise, fun with it.

 

[Liskrig]

I mix up about 300 - 350 ml of juice every 2 weeks or so. It takes me about 2 hours and I make a dozen or so flavors. This is my entire set-up:

Tri Pour Beakers
100 ml x2

Graduated Cylinder - Polypropylene - 50ml
50 ml x1 ; 10 ml x2


Syringe with 18ga Needle
3 ml x2 - and I bought some larger gauge luer lock tips to make handling VG based nic easier.

I have a couple dozen bottles from when I bought pre-made juices, and I bought a few 250 ml & 125 ml amber glass bottles to break down 1L bottles of nic for storage. And some of these for the recipes that are nailed down and I make in 100 ml batches:
4oz Natural LDPE (Soft) Boston Round w/ Black Twist Top Cap

I have a few pipettes that came free with flavor orders, but I almost never use them.

I started off making 5 - 10 ml batches, but quickly found 2 recipes that I liked. I made a couple of 30 ml batches, then a 50 ml batch. Then I jumped to 100 ml in those 4oz bottles. When mixing, especially in larger batches, leave some headroom in the bottle. I mix 100 ml in those 4 oz (120 ml) bottles so there is room to shake them. If you fill a bottle all the way to the top, it's harder to get it mixed well. I use one syringe for nic, and the other for flavors that I need to measure in less than 1 ml increments.

Fruits steep faster and are more forgiving if you get the % wrong. Vanillas, tobaccos, bakery flavor need long steep times. Sometimes up to a month. When you get a new flavor, mix it up by itself the first time so you know how strong it is and what it tastes like. Take copious notes, even when you make something terrible. (This will happen!)

The best advice I can give you is to try not to over-complicate the process. Some folks want to make it into some kind of mad science experiment. Think of it more like bartending. A dash from this bottle... a few splashes from that one... pour it in the bottle, shake it, vape it. The only thing you can really do wrong is to put too much nic in it, so double check your math on that. When trying something new, make it 0 nic first. Nic is the most expensive component so don't waste it. Otherwise, fun with it.

Awesome advice! I'm hoping to be down to 0 nic by the end of the year (not a "New Years resolution" just something I'm ready for) so I'm only getting a 60ml bottle.

I like the idea of the bar tending method, I mastered chemistry in High School, but I always love making drinks for friends more

Thank you!


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[Liskrig]

So I placed an order with RTS Vapes with a coupon code, it came to a little over $100 with UPS shipping. I grabbed a cereal recipe from e-liquid-recipe that had great reviews. A lot of the $100 order was equipment that I can keep using (glass sets, bottles...) I did get some flavors I know I love to do a single flavor mix (blue raspberry, ecto cooler), only 60ml of nic because I'm planning on dropping to 0mg by the end of the year.

I just wanted to pop in again and thank everyone that participated, and helped me out with this