Soon to be First Timer DIYer, with questions

[LongDraw]

Hello,

So I finally decided I wanted to start diy'ing juice. Last week I placed an order from Wizard Labs. Ordered 250 ml of 48mg nic base of pg, bottles of straight pg and vg, several different sized syringes, glass bottles, plastic bottles and flavorings (mainly tfa, but i see on my order one la and sm.)

My plan is to take the 250 ml nic base and break it down to 30 ml bottles that I bought, so I can store all but one bottle at a time in the freezer and they will only be exposed once to air before being used. Wanted 60 ml bottles but they were out.

I have been playing around with the ejuice Me Up Calculator and feel fairly comfortable with it, but 2 questions:

1.) On the flavoring part of the calculator how will I know whether the flavoring is pg, vg, etc and the percentage. Will this be on the flavoring bottle?

2.) My plan is to use my 3ml bottles to test make juices. Lets say I use 10% flavoring but it is to weak so I want to add more. Would I just add a few drops more, and if I do how do I know how much this increases the percentage? Is there a better way to increase flavor percentage and know the amount?

Besides flavorings I know there are some other basic ingredients people may use, such as sweeteners, etc.

1.) Could anyone tell me the names of the other ingredients often used?

2.) For either naturally extracted or artificial tobacco flavors, any suggestions?

I hope my questions make sense and if not let me know I will try to reword them. Really excited to start diy'ing juices. All i use for atomizers are the rebuildable types and really enjoy working with those.

Figure there are one or two juices from a vendor I will keep ordering but mainly will make my own for regular use. I plan on first trying unflavored juice, then making single flavored vapes to get my feet wet.

Any and all suggestions on equipment, procedures, flavorings, recipes, or links to blogs and helpful threads would be very welcome. I am mainly looking through the DIY threads now.

 

[Hoosier]

Flavoring is considered PG unless it is a VG based flavoring. VG based flavorings are the exception and are advertised as such. If there is nothing in the description then call it PG and you're good.

The percentage of flavoring is not marked. That would make my blog on finding flavoring levels superfluous.

 

[LongDraw]

Thanks Hoosier, checking out the blog as well now.

Flavoring is considered PG unless it is a VG based flavoring. VG based flavorings are the exception and are advertised as such. If there is nothing in the description then call it PG and you're good.

The percentage of flavoring is not marked. That would make my blog on finding flavoring levels superfluous.

 

[LongDraw]

Blogs read, very good thank you.

The one question I had above was if you make a juice, but then decide to add more flavoring what do you do to know the total percentage for the next batch.

My guess based on the blogs and stickies and such is say I had 10% flavoring but though it was weak so now I have to add drop by drop. How do I know the increase in percentage? I would figure I could know by ml by first testing how many drops the dropper takes for 1 ml.

Flavoring is considered PG unless it is a VG based flavoring. VG based flavorings are the exception and are advertised as such. If there is nothing in the description then call it PG and you're good.

The percentage of flavoring is not marked. That would make my blog on finding flavoring levels superfluous.

 

[Cookster]

I'll make a 10ml bottle with 10% flavoring, which will be 1ml of flavor. If it's too weak, I'll bump it to 15% flavoring which would be .5ml to add, etc... Having a 1ml syringe is key for smaller batches.

For me, trying to be totally exact is a waste of time...close is good enough

 

[LongDraw]

Ahhh, needed to hear that. The "totally exact" would have been something I focused on.

Good to hear then. I'll be working with 3ml bottles for initial testing and playing around, so will just have to do the math on that. Thanks for the 10 ml example, made it clearer in my head.

I have droppers, but would be nice to go find a few good ones at a local store. That way can be more consistent with drops used and such.

I'll make a 10ml bottle with 10% flavoring, which will be 1ml of flavor. If it's too weak, I'll bump it to 15% flavoring which would be .5ml to add, etc... Having a 1ml syringe is key for smaller batches.

For me, trying to be totally exact is a waste of time...close is good enough

 

[Hoosier]

If you're drippin in flavor, then a graduated cylinder will be needed to be precise. Count drops to get a 3ml and divide the count by 3 to get drops/ml. I started that way, but use 1ml syringes with marks every 0.02ml. I'm precise for flavoring and Nic.

(But I learn things from people like DaMulta who measured everything by eye-balling and guessing it looked right. So whatever works for a mixer is cool with me)

 

[Cookster]

Ahhh, needed to hear that. The "totally exact" would have been something I focused on.

Good to hear then. I'll be working with 3ml bottles for initial testing and playing around, so will just have to do the math on that. Thanks for the 10 ml example, made it clearer in my head.

I have droppers, but would be nice to go find a few good ones at a local store. That way can be more consistent with drops used and such.

Ya, OCDer's unite!

Seriously, drops are always going to vary, due to different viscosities.

I went CVS, and paid a couple of bucks for 1ml insulin syringes, took an exacto knife and cut off just above the needle, pullled the rest of the needle out, and voila!

 

[LongDraw]

Thanks guys. Yeah I tend to focus on the precision type as well. With my order I have 2 each of 1, 3 and 5 ml syringes along with some extra 18 an 16 gaugue blunt needle tips. I know the math isn't hard, just gotta see an example kinda like cookster gave with the 10ml/10% example.

If you're drippin in flavor, then a graduated cylinder will be needed to be precise. Count drops to get a 3ml and divide the count by 3 to get drops/ml. I started that way, but use 1ml syringes with marks every 0.02ml. I'm precise for flavoring and Nic.

(But I learn things from people like DaMulta who measured everything by eye-balling and guessing it looked right. So whatever works for a mixer is cool with me)

Ya, OCDer's unite!

Seriously, drops are always going to vary, due to different viscosities.

I went CVS, and paid a couple of bucks for 1ml insulin syringes, took an exacto knife and cut off just above the needle, pullled the rest of the needle out, and voila!

 

[LongDraw]

Well didn't want to start another thread just for this.

BUTTTTT..... Super pumped. My order from Wizard labs came today. Since don't have a lot of time tonight think I will just clean out the glass bottles and let air dry, as well as (I read this somewhere and it makes sense) place clear tape around the syringes so the numbers don't wear off, this happened to other syringes I had.

Tomorrow, though I first try unflavored nic. Been wanting to and hoping I enjoy it. Then I am not sure. But think I will focus on single flavors to see the percentage. Tempted to start at 10% but maybe will try around 6 as always read easier to add.

 

[SolidStateLogic]

Ethyl Maltol is your best friend as a sweetner!

 

[PRIMER]

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy-e-liquid/396145-super-easy-diy-method.html

 

[Cookster]

Well didn't want to start another thread just for this.

BUTTTTT..... Super pumped. My order from Wizard labs came today. Since don't have a lot of time tonight think I will just clean out the glass bottles and let air dry, as well as (I read this somewhere and it makes sense) place clear tape around the syringes so the numbers don't wear off, this happened to other syringes I had.

Tomorrow, though I first try unflavored nic. Been wanting to and hoping I enjoy it. Then I am not sure. But think I will focus on single flavors to see the percentage. Tempted to start at 10% but maybe will try around 6 as always read easier to add.

Clear nail polish works even better on the numbers on the syringe than tape

 

[LongDraw]

Ethyl Maltol is your best friend as a sweetner!

Thank you, added to my list when i order next.

Clear nail polish works even better on the numbers on the syringe than tape

Awesome, have extras I may have to try this with. Does the nail polish affect the plastic syringes?

Made my unflavored nic juice, 70pg/30vg 18 mg. Not bad actually, it actually reminds me of a flavored juice I like. With that juice after a drag or two it seems the flavors fade and I get a similar taste to the unflavored nic.

Also made 3 juices, single flavor. Took the percentages from the TFA thread or the actual TFA website. All TFA. 8% M-Type Tobacco, pretty good but I think I will lower the percent next time. 10% granny smith, which was good especially the aftertaste, interested to see how it is after steeping a day or so. Also did grape at 12%. Only dripped a few drops, seems good, extremely dark but surpisingly didn't seem to affect my wick to much.

All were made at 3 mls, so should steep fairly quick I would think.

If possible, could any one show me the math for this example. Say I have a 70pg/30vg 18mg nice at 10 percent flavor. What would the math look like to add 2% to get to 12%, and what would it look like to subtract to get 8% and still keep the pg/vg and nic ratios.

Not bad at math but could use an example. Use the Ejuice me up calculator but I don't think i can make adjustments with it like in the question above.

 

[PRIMER]

Clear nail polish works even better on the numbers on the syringe than tape

I love little tricks like this.
Noted, and thanks.

 

[Faylool]

I really like my 10 ml glass cylinder even though I eyeball and stuff if I'm not following a good recipe by somebody else. That's a good way to break the ice.