SO, you think you are ready for DIY?

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BakuPeg

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I've been seeing a lot more faces in here lately. Whether you are new to e-cigarettes or a vet wanting to make his/her own juice I welcome you!

Before you mix, or even if you've mixed a few batches. Look above this post on page one and you will see MANY "stickied" posts up there. READ THEM ALL. No, don't ask us anything until you've READ. THEM. ALL.

Second, Get an e-juice calculator. E-juice me up just sits on your desktop. There is this one also that is just a link. DIY E-Liquid (E-Juice) Mixing Station! Don't mix without one. I know, you are confident in your math, you were a math major in college, etc. Humor us. Just use one. Use it to double and triple check your results. No, I don't want to hear it, just use one.

First and foremost. :rules: Nicotine juice is to be respected. Even for an expert who has mixed the stuff for years. If you get some on you WASH IT OFF ASAP. Don't panic and knock over everything in your haste to get to the sink, but take action. If you are just starting be prudent, not lazy and wear some gloves! Nicotine WILL absorb through your skin. If you are still not sure wear protective eyewear, it wouldn't hurt. Nicotine juice on the eyeball is just a painful mess that is best to be avoided.

Ok, you have your recipe and you used a calculator. And you have your "stuff" NOW, get out a pad, Paper and pencil. Write down what you are going to mix, and what you intend to use and the EXACT amounts. Why write it down? If you make your next all-day vape and you have no clue what you did to make it, what good is it going to be when you run out of this one batch? To be a good DIYer you must keep accurate records.

Mix on a cookie sheet or a bin of some sort. It helps minimize the impact of a spill and can save your ..... Nic juice and many flavors can eat through a table. I mix on one of these. Half Size Aluminum Sheet Pan - 2 ct. - Sam's Club

You've mixed a few batches and everything tastes bad? Too flowery/chemically? Have you heard of a guy named Hoosier? No? well go to this link here. He is a flavor Guru and his blog will help you out on flavor mixing levels. E-Cigarette Forum - Hoosier - Blogs

Another note about flavoring. You should be doing a bit of research on every flavor you have. How to research a flavor you ask? There is a search option on the ecf page. Do not just assume all TPA flavors mix at 10 -20%. (some do, some don't) Type in your flavor like "TPA pineapple" and read posts on how others have mixed that flavor. Work their opinions into your own recipe. This isn't a perfect science and DIY IS all about experimentation. Not all your juices will taste good, or even be vapable.

If you want my opinion on flavors. If you keep banging your head against a wall and can't make a good vape take a step back and look at what flavors you are buying. All flavor companies are not created equal. They each have its gems and some are going to be HORRIBLE to vape. I have a vast collection of flavors from TPA, Flavor West, Flavor Art, Chinese Super concentrates, Capellas, Nature's Flavors, and there are many more. Some are more forgiving than others. For a new person mixing, TPA is alright but some of their flavors are "unforgiving". If you go over you will get into the stinky/chemically/perfumy zone.
If you are extremely frustrated. Try another company. Try capellas or some Vaping Zone or Ecigexpress Super concentrates.

To sum up my little post here. DIY IS going to be more than throwing things in a bottle and having a quick, cheap, and easy vape. This hobby is going to take time and effort to make it work. We are more than happy to answer your questions but please, please, please. (I'm begging here). READ the stickies up there. Use an ejuice Calculator, Write down your efforts, Use basic safety equipment.
I probably forgot a few things, please help fill me fill in the blanks if I forgot anything.
:vapor:
 

yzer

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Nov 23, 2011
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Protective gloves and eye wear are needed for working with 100 mg nicotine bases. The stuff is 10% nicotine and dangerous if not handled properly. I also use a respirator fitted with organic vapor cartridges when using 100 mg base. These respirators look like a gas mask and are available at reasonable cost at hardware stores.
 

adeline

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Read the stickies, wear gloves when handling nic, use (preferably blunt-tip needle) syringes to measure your liquids, especially your nic.

Drops don't calculate easily. Your PG, VG, nicquid, and flavorings will all measure with different drops per ml. Each dropper or needle or bottle has a different drops per ml. Syringes are the best way to measure accurately and consistently. Every time.

Anything you add to nicquid will lower its strength. if you buy 50/50 12mg liquid, adding your flavors will drop the nic. Just remember that.

There is a TON of information here. Some good threads of note:

DIY Shopping List:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy-e-liquid/371817-diy-shopping-list-must-haves.html

Where to find glass bottles:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy-e-liquid/376936-so-many-juices-so-few-bottles-help.html?highlight=glass+bottles
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy-e-liquid/376547-good-glass-jars.html?highlight=glass+bottles

Flavor Percentages:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy-e-liquid/336110-flavor-apprentice-flavoring-thread.html
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/e-liquid-recipes/259070-flavour-art-single-flavor-percentages.html?highlight=flavour+art+percentages
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy-e-liquid/74109-guide-diy-flavoring.html

There are, of course, many useful threads. I found all of these with a quick search of the DIY forum.
 

Thrasher

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Drops don't calculate easily. Your PG, VG, nicquid, and flavorings will all measure with different drops per ml. Each dropper or needle or bottle has a different drops per ml. Syringes are the best way to measure accurately and consistently. Every time.

this.... i totally agree with syringed its the exact same amount all the time every time. every dropper, even different liquids in the same dropper can be different.
 

Bosco

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Dec 20, 2012
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Drops don't calculate easily. Your PG, VG, nicquid, and flavorings will all measure with different drops per ml. Each dropper or needle or bottle has a different drops per ml. Syringes are the best way to measure accurately and consistently. Every time.

this.... i totally agree with syringed its the exact same amount all the time every time. every dropper, even different liquids in the same dropper can be different.

also agree - syringe is the way to go. I bought some 1ml syringes with 22gage needles to use for flavorings and it has totally changed my whole DIY scene - my juice is way more consistent from batch to batch.

BTW - the very best syringe tip I ever read is to pull the plunger out and pour the liquid in from the top for thick liquids. To mix with my 100mg nic in all VG . .I put the needle in and pull the plunger out - then pour the base in from the top, then put the plunger back in, unscrew the needle and dispense.

I can't tell you how much easier this one tip has made my DIY mixing life. I broke 2 syringes trying to push 100%VG nic through a 16 gauge blunt tip needle.
 

DuaneNeveu

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Fantastic BakuPeg! I was going to suggest that you "Blog this post", then realized you already had. Good stuff.

I've got a couple hundred syringes, fresh in the package, although...

for my flavours, I use the dropper bottle but with a fair bit of accuracy all the same. You see, every time I get a new dropper bottle of flavouring, I drip into a 1ml receptacle until full while counting drops. Then I label that bottle with how many drops per milliliter it dispenses. And helps me to get through my recipes a little quicker, and I don't have to measure the same flavour every single time I use it. It's always the same liquid going through the same dropper, so there are really no variables to alter recipes.
 

bobbybilly

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Jan 10, 2013
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Good info here. I'm a newb and new also to trying the DIY "game". I admit I haven't folowed all of the OPs and other folks who followed up suggestions although I am able to say when it comes to safety I have read the stickies relating to that topic and follow those guidelines strictly. Also, I know my tired old brain isn't up to the mental exercise of doing the math so I am also using a DIY calculator that is in the stickies so at least I got a couple things right while I cut corners. So far I've only made about 5 batches and am having to continue to tweak my flavorings to get them where I want them. However, after reading this thread I'm now off to the great sticky zone up above to read all of them and not do anymore until I've done so. I suspect that once I do the proper amount of homework then it will save me some effort and probably help me cut back on how many small experimental batches get washed down the kitchen sink as unvapable. The main reason for this post is to let you know that while convincing me personally to go back and do my homework may not be a major victory at least you'll know that at least one person (and probably a lot more who may not speak up) did read and follow your advice. Anyways thanks for the reminder that if I stop trying to put the cart before the horse that things will go smoother. I guess maybe this old dog can learn a new trick or two!

P.S. As far as this being a sticky goes I don't know if I'm pretty typical or not, but I did read about the safety precautions and commited that to memory and into action and skimmed over a lot of other info in the stickies. It was my excitement about my new hobby that got the best of me and I got sidetracked away from the stickies and couldn't resist just jumping right into the regular threads and experimenting with DIY. So if you more experienced folks think this type of thread is important maybe you may want to consider leaving it a regular thread so others like me that get sidetracked by all the interesting regular threads will see it and just maybe give it a bump every day or two to keep it visible? Just my 2 cents for what it's worth.
 
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