MarijuanaHow To Build A VaporizerBy sjc What is a vaporizer? This page is designed to answer that question. Not only is this page here to answer that question but to tell you how they work and how to build Carp's Vaporizer. It is an efficient way to smoke marijuana and it's not hard to make. What Is A Vaporizer?A vaporizer is a device for smoking herbs. It uses a heat source to heat the herb without burning, but rather by vaporizing. When marijuana is used in a vaporizer, the vaporizer produces a white cloud of THC rich vapor. Since the marijuana is not burned, it is much cooler than a joint and contains less tar. How Exactly Does It Work?The vaporizer uses a heating element rather than a flame. If marijuana is heated from 338 F to 372 F, the THC vaporizes. This is not hot enough for it to burn so it does not produce as many of the toxins that burning it does. What Are The Advantages Of Vaporizing?Well first of all the vapor is not as harsh on the throat (though the taste can take some getting used to). Burning marijuana requires higher temperatures than vaporization does. The heat of the burning destroys some of the THC (making it less potent). Not only that but a recent study found that water filtration systems are worse for the lungs than joints. This is because the increase the amount of tars in the smoke per unit of THC (thus one must inhale more tars to get the same amount of THC). This same study found that only vaporizers contain less tar per amount of THC than joints. Simple Vaporizer PlansThese are plans on building a simple vaporizer out of a soldering iron, some wood, and a plastic 2 liter bottle. Of course not everyone has the skills, tools, or time to make their own vaporizer. Fortunately it is possible to buy vaporizers. It should be noted that instructions on this page are for building a conduction type of vaporizer. While a conduction vaporizer does a decent job, convection vaporizers do a better job but they are more expensive and much harder to build. Instead of directly heating the material, a convection vaporizer uses hot air to provide heat. The material is more evenly heated and provides more vapor while producing less waste than a conduction vaporizer. The vaporizer you build with these instructions will give you an idea of what vaporizing is and why people do it. If you think you would like to use one all the time, get a convection vaporizer. The Carp's Easy VaporizerFirst you will need the following materials: -- A soldering iron (variable temperature if possible) Procedure:First cut the flat wood into a triangle with equal 8 inch sides (60 deg. angles) Second Stain and varnish the wood (or polyurethane). Choose one side of the flat triangle to be the top Find the exact center of the triangle and mark it on both top and bottom. Choose a drill bit size such that the soldering iron handle can be set into the hole created by the drill and have the rim on the top (handle end nearest the element) sit on it so it doesn't fall through. Drill with this size bit through the center of the triangular piece. Turn the triangular piece over and mark 3 spots each about 1 inch from the vertex each angle. Drill through each of these at a 15 degree angle with the smallest bit that the size dowel you have will fit into (snug is good). Turn the triangular piece to the top. Pull the plastic bottom piece off of the 2 liter bottle Cut out the middle of this piece (the indented middle part). Place the black piece over the hole in the center of the wooden triangle and put a two nails through it into the wood. Use Hot Glue (or better Silicon sealant) around the bottom of the black piece and fill in any cracks in it made in the removal from the bottle. Place some wood glue in each of the holes on the bottom of the triangular piece. Put a dowel in each of these holes and gently tap them with a hammer to set them (then let the glue dry). Put the soldering iron power cord through the hole in the middle (trim the plastic if you have to). Pull the soldering iron through so that it rests on the base...sticking up into the air. Cut out the bottom of the 2 liter bottle (make a nice hole as big as you can but so that it still will go into the black piece and fit (leave some of the curved bottom). That’s it...now just fashion a bowl and your all set.
 Fashioning The Bowl When this type is used the bowl is easy to make. There are two ways I have had success with. The first is Tin foil. Just wrap tin foil around the threads where the tip would go and make a little bowl (small bowl is good...like maybe 1/2 an inch diameter). Heated tin foil is not a healthy thing to breathe, so the suggested bowl would be similar to the one described below. The next way to make a bowl for this type is to buy a thimble (size 9 usually works nice). It must be a metal thimble. Take the thimble and make a hole in it (the top) work the hole till it is the size of the threads on the soldering iron. Now try to put it on. If you use the cheaper soldering irons (the ones where the tip screws in rather than on) then try leaving the tip on and using a larger thimble (much larger). Using The VaporizerGrind some marijuana with an herb grinder, then pack the bowl and put the bottle over the soldering iron and place it in its holder (the black piece). Plug it in watch carefully and as soon as you see a white cloud coming up, then unplug it (or else it will get too hot and burn the herb) and wait for it to build up. Unscrew the cap, push up on the soldering iron (from the handle) and take a hit, replace cap and iron, let it fill, and hit again. Unpack with tweezers and repack (the bowl is small so ya have to repack a lot) Notes:Initial warm up can take up to 5 minutes. Always plug in the iron and leave it on (uncovered and not packed) for a while before first use (you will see why). The bowl is small, you may need to pack it 3 or 4 times for 1 joints worth of weed. If the bottle is deforming from the heat then it is too hot (don't leave it on so long). Books Ask Ed: |