Pinnacle Drip Tips

[whokrz]

Pinnacle is the name for cnc products I make. This is to separate what is turned by hand and what is turned by cnc.

After months of work and lots of programming it will now make 1.5" comfort tips. Here is one of the first tips it made
This tip requires 7 tool changes and takes about 40 minutes to make.

The program is written in VB which took longer to write, but this automates much of the program and will allow me to add new styles into the same program with much less time than g-code.

I went cnc to reduce the cost of these tips and to bring two of my hobbies together (turning and programming).
These prices may go up a little depending on how fast the cutting tools wear. I hope everything will go as planned and these will be the final prices.
$13.52 - Acrylic drip tips
$15.60 - Tru-stone drip tips
$24.96 - M3 tips drip tips

I still have a little bit more work on the programming. After that is finished I will run a batch, then make a new style.

 

[whokrz]

Turned from ruby in fuchsite.
The tip took 4-5 hours to create. The fuchsite is a relatively soft rock and cuts easy. The red and blue parts of the stone are ruby which is much harder. Keeping the tip round was a challenge because it wanted to cut the softer material and leave the harder material behind.
My sandpaper works well on the fuchsite, but the ruby laughs at it. This weekend I will pick up different abrasives and redo the finish steps. Hopefully this will produce a better finish and shine. There are a few small chips in the finish layer, but for my first attempt I am happy.

 

[whokrz]

I have been away for much longer than I had anticipated. I am sorry that I didn't come here sooner and let everyone know, it kept looking like next week I will have the time. My plan was to be in the shop playing with the lathes months ago and putting in about half the hours that I used to. Unfortunately unexpected things kept coming up that require my spare time. I wanted to let everyone know we are alive and well.


Over the last week I started to have limited time to make it into the shop. I was able to clean out stuff that was being temporarily stored and was able to finish tearose's captive ring tip. This Sunday I was expecting to have a few hours to start install parts on the cnc lathe that I ordered months ago. I was finally getting back to the shop, which was awesome even though it was only for a hour here and there. Coming home from work yesterday the rear differential in my truck let go. Now my shop time will be spent installing the spare so I can get to work. The spare has different gears which makes it impossible to use 4wd and go camping. Instead of having epensive gears installed I will put that money toward finishing a stronger axle that has been sitting for years.


Eventually I will have spare time again to play in the shop but I am not sure when that will be. I am hoping for sooner rather than later, but later is probably the reality.


Here is the picture of tearose's captive ring tip that should have been finished months ago. Tearose if you could pm your shipping info I will drop it in the mail. There is no need for payment, I am just glad I had a little time to have fun playing on the lathe.

 

[LordDavon]

Thought I would upload a baby pic for everyone... without any ulterior motives!

 

[Lisa66]

@whokrz: Watching with interest. I own 10-12 of your tips and subscribed to this thread in anticipation...... I left this forum a while back and don't get here very often....

(aside) Hi, tmcase! I've missed you and hope you are doing well.

Anyway - I have dipped a toe in lapidary, cut numerous stones. My dad was an excellent one. I found that metal (mostly silver; also copper and brass, and lately blacksmithing) is my thing and buy cut stones from other people now.

I have a list of abrasives appropriate for various kinds of stones (on paper). It varies greatly according to the stone, as you have begun to notice, I'm sure. I will have to dig it up but can scan it and get it to you if you like; it's very helpful.

If you are using carbide tools for grinding you will probably wear them out very quickly. For small objects, I have found that various shaped diamond tools (bits) in my flex shaft drill, with the bit partially submerged in water as a cooling lubricant, work best for carving. Keep in mind I have not done a lot of this. And---it has to be followed up with the appropriate abrasives to get a polish; tin oxide, aluminum oxide....whatever is appropriate for the given stone, and it matters.

I have a (inexpensive) holder for my flex shaft that allows me to use both hands when grinding whatever. I also looked at Kingsley North, very reputable and fairly priced lapidary supplier and saw this: Flexade for BL Lathe - Foredom - Kingsley North, which allows you to turn a lathe into a flex shaft......not sure if that is something that might help you. Regardless, they have anything you would need to cut/polish any stone.

Not trying to sway you into buying more stuff---but with a flex shaft (or even a corded Dremel) you can use any type of grinding/polishing/buffing wheel/bit/tip you can imagine. You can get paste of various abrasives and use it on all kinds of these attachments to get the final finish you need.

Also, please check out this forum, if you haven't already:
Lapidaryforum.net - Index

There are people there that do carving and also a ton of info on lapidary techniques.

Let me know if you'd like that list of abrasives.

 

[whokrz]

Thanks for all of the pictures! It is always great to see them and hear how you like them Pics have been uploaded to Facebook.

Yay such wonderful pictures!
I don't thin on my order went through on the Site.

Whorkz haven't heard from you I hope all is well!

Sorry to hear that you are having trouble with your order. Did you get a email confirmation of your order? I would recommend contacting DV to see if they can figure out what happened. If the mail ate it or something let me know and I will make you new ones.


Sorry I haven't been on in awhile. This month has been crazy with taxes, kids preparing for college, dad retiring and work. Needless to say spare time has been rare. I really miss having time to go out in the shop. Tomorrow if all goes well I will have time to finish Tearose's captive ring tip that has been on my wood lathe for a few weeks.

The next 2 months will also be busy. My wife is starting her masters and the kids will be off to college. It is going to be really strange not having the kids around and I already miss them.

As time allows I will upgrade the lathe more and produce a few tips. Hopefully in July things will have settled down around here and I will be able to spend more time in the shop.

 

[tmcase]

I don't need anymore time to test these beauties.

I've tested both of them on Serpent RTAs with twisted 28ga Kanthal with cotton at .6 ohms and 22 watts. I was using a sweet fruity juice that can't tolerate high heat. I swapped back and forth from Lewis's tips and the tips that came with the Serpent's unknown times. The Serpent's tips are SS. I tested for airflow/draw, flavor, vapor, warmth of vape and heat from the tips.

Here you will see the bore holes of:
1, Lewis's tip
2, Serpent tip
3, Subtank mini tip
4, friction tip that I got at a local vape shop

You'll see that Lewis's tip and the Serpent tip have the same ID while the subtank mini is smaller and the local shop's is huge.

Here you will see the mouthpiece of each tip.

I forgot to include the subtank tip but it is the same size as the Serpent tip (middle one). You'll notice that the mouthpiece diameter is quite different with all 3. I tested all these tips on the Serpent and the subtank until I was dizzy and I couldn't tell any difference in flavor, vapor, air draw or heat. I was shocked because I've read that the larger the mouthpiece the more air you get and the flavor and vapor is better but that wasn't the case for me. This test may be different at higher wattages though.

One final test was to see if the tip would come out by holding it by the tip.

Nope, it didn't fall out and that SX Mini is no light weight (right DP?) I should also mention that there was absolutely no wobble with these tips. They went in easy and came out easy yet hold strong enough to hold up this SX Mini.

One thing I should add is that I was able to drip juice into a dripper with the blooming lilac tip but I have a steady hand. Those that don't may need a wider mouthpiece.

It would be interesting to see if your tips perform the same with a wider mouthpiece and a core that only goes part way into the mouthpiece. I know you like to have the core go all the way to the top for durability.

To wrap it up...I think you have a winner here Lewis. While the tip colors don't match my mods, I will be using them both because they are just so damn purdy and because you made them. Thank you so much for letting me test these tips and I hope to see more as soon as you have the time. I want to replace all my RTA tips with yours.

 

[tmcase]

These are the 2 tips that Lewis asked me to test awhile back. I didn't have mods to match the colors so I got wraps. Here they are in all their glory.

 

[LordDavon]

I want to intercept her mail.

I'm going to the source. I'm creating a hypnotic video and sending it to Lewis. It just repeats, "David needs all the drip tips..."

 

[whokrz]

Thank you so much David

So far my favorite is the Balrog. The temp control keeps up better than my Istick with a titanium coil. It is also really small which I love. For looks the target is awesome, it reminds me of the old robotech cartoon I used to watch when I was a kid. It hits almost as well as the Balrog in power mode even with the ti coil. I need to get some nickel wire to try the temp control. The A8 is a bit large for my pockets and vapes great. It has already found its new home by my TV. The hero, green vaper, vmw and Islim also work really well.

It took me a good 15min trying to figure out how to put the batterys in the A8, green vaper, vmw and the Islim. After a lot of head scratching and a little help from google I discovered the batteries are already in there and don't come out.

Now I need to buy a couple of batteries, get a few more tanks, make different flavor liquid for all the tanks, learn all the functions on each device and turn tips for them all. Its funny I make tips and there is a stainless tip in the picture because I don't have enough. I am definitely starting to understand how collecting everything can be so addictive.

Thanks again for everything, they are all awesome

 

[LordDavon]

What a very generous thing for LD to do. Thanks @LordDavon .

...LD how incredibly wonderful of you to get these out to whokrz

Lewis and I have been friends for a few years. Has has also been sending me (and many others) "test" and free tips for a while. I had no idea that he lacked a collection of devices. It was the least I could do.

 

[whokrz]

The lapis is starting to take shape.

 

[whokrz]

Finished polishing the lapis.

 

[tearose50]

Here ya go ---

 

[gormly]

One of the most dedicated people I have ever known when it comes to his passion with making beautiful items from wood. He made me a pen way back.. still use it every day

I know it's probably bugging him that he cannot be doing this 24/7

 

[Katdarling]

tmcase, your wish is my command.......

 

[whokrz]

Life is still going well, other than I don't get to spend as much time in the shop as I would like. Yeah, those pesky adult responsibilities and all.

The last five months I have built a coolant system and enclosure for the cnc lathe. It cuts and drills the stainless much better now and uses food grade mineral oil for the coolant. I also designed and coded a new core that is held with a collet chuck on my wood lathe. This will allow me to stop the lathe and when time allows I can pick up where I left off. This of course isn't practical with a cnc machine. At this time I don't have any tips, but I hope you will enjoy the video.

Hope everyone is well and having a great 2016.

 

[whokrz]

Thanks, I am glad everyone enjoyed the video!
This weekend I finished programming the 5mm core and test it on the wood lathe. The tip is turned in acrylic acetate, blue/gold swirl. Hopefully next weekend I will get a few more hours in the shop to play

 

[tearose50]

So do I

I'm quite enjoying my Captured Ring.

So great to see you creating such fun tips, Lewis. Eager for more, of course.

 

[tmcase]

Mine

and mine.
Lewis was kind enough to send me these 2 tips to test for airflow since I've changed from mouth to lung to lung inhaling. I want to compare these tips with other large bore tips that I have for a day or two to see if there is any difference. So far I'm enjoying the hell out of them and they are so beautiful. More later.

Thank you so much Lewis for venturing into the large bore tips and for sending me these 2 beauties. Now I will be able to buy more of your tips.