I am interested in DIY juice, where do I begin?

[Waine]

The whole DIY juice making has piqued my interest. But I don't know where to start. It seems a bit daunting actually. I am a relatively experienced vaper and want to take it up a notch. I have watched a few You tube tutorial clips and I get the basic idea. Can anyone recommend a vendor where I can order a complete starter pack with good instructions that will allow me to get going? Although its not "Rocket science", I would really appreciate it if someone can "hold my hand" on this new journey and just help me. Thanks up front...

 

[Gareth Friedmam]

@Waine Blckvapour.co.za has it all

 

[WianGuse]

I second blckvapour. Very good service. To start off, you obviously need to get some VG, PG and nicotine (I used VG based nicotine) and then concentrates.
Check out e-liquid-recipes.com to find some recipe ideas and buy concentrates accordingly.
I mix using ml and not weight, which means I use syringes to measure the amount of flavourings added instead of using a scale.
Another useful site is steam-engine.org. I use their e-liquid calculator.

 

[The_Ice]

Hi @Waine I am a diy apprentice and I could share some early lessons I've learned. I'd recommend that you start simply and first see how you get on.

1. I use Blckvapour. I did once order in-house concentrates from vapeowave, this is only recommend once you know what you're doing.

2. Don't worry too much about a starter kit, here's what you NEED just to start if you don't want to make a too big 1st investment:
Nic 36mg/ml in PG
PG
VG
Flavour concentrates*
HDPE bottles 30ml
Syringe 10ml
Pipettes 3ml

3 go to e-liquid-recipes.com or use an app to determine the ml of each ingredient to use and mix it in the bottles, shake and steep as recommended.

*To start off with, find a recipe/clone recipe (s) from http://www.ecigssa.co.za/forums/e-Liquid-recipes/
Or
1 with a high rating from
http://e-liquid-recipes.com
And order the concentrates needed to make said recipe (the brand is important, the potencies and flavour varies)

If I could do it all over again, that's what I would do. After doing this, you can see what else you need to improve/facilitate your mixing experience. I also recommend having a look/scan through http://www.ecigssa.co.za/calling-all-diyers.t10799/ it's a long thread but there are some golden ideas inside.

Good luck and enjoy

 

[SAVaper]

There are a few suppliers for a kit if you want but you could start as suggested above.

1. Find a recipe you like (or 3 or 4)
2. Order only the flavours specific to those recipes (+ VG, PG and Nicotine)
3. Get bottles and labels(put a mixing date on so you know how long they have steeped)
4. Buy Syringes from you local pharmacy. (10ml x 5, 5ml x 10, 1ml insulin x 20) Insulin works great for the very small volumes of flavour if you start making 10ml testers. The more you have the fewer times you have to wash them in between recipes.

When you find that you like the whole idea of DIY, then invest in a decent scale and start mixing by weight. It is much faster, easier and cleaner. (Less syringes to clean after each recipe)

Most important enjoy the experimenting and learn from your disasters (always keep notes of what you mix and tweek so you can replicate the great ones)

 

[Slick]

I used to dread mixing by syringes,but after I bought a scale I look forward to it,its so much easier and you don't feel like your calculations are abit off,im using a scale from Valley vapour and it's awesome,as most concentrates come in dripper bottles nowadays,if you use syringes you gona have to pop open the drippers on each bottle that you want to use,just the thought of that drives me insane,get a scale,ul love diy even more

 

[Viper_SA]

Get some VG, PG, Nic, a scale, some concentrates, read a few threads and most important, throw yohr sanity out tbe door and start mixing

 

[Silver]

Great thread you started @Waine
Am watching it with much interest

 

[NewOobY]

hey man the first kit i bought was the top-up 250 from skyblue, but I agree with everyone here the blckvapour kit is awesome for the mere fact that you get a scale included. You can't go wrong with it. But also the other options of getting everything separately is also good, but to start a kit is easier and less daunting. In my humble opinion...

Also a good place to find recipes is: http://e-liquid-recipes.com/ there is awesome functionality on the site - you can type in a flavour profile and search for recipes. Remember to always sort by rating. Happy DIY-ing.

 

[StangV2_0]

I am alse very interested in DIY and actually started a thread regarding vendor etc last night.

Looks like black vapour the way to go. I also wondered if i really need a starter kit since most of the contents can be sourced locally or separately.

I am wondering if its easier with a scale. And how so? If you mixing small quantities at a time I am sure a syringe is faster. But if mixing larger amounts? Can someone with some experience please elaborate on this a bit.

All the juices I have bought in the past came in high mg/ml so I have been mixing down to my required nicotine preference (usually 1mg/ml) using VG (Bp glycerine) i get from nearest pharmacy.

But I am now interested in mixing my own flavours.



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[Mark121m]

My start was going to Clyrolinx.co.za

Ordered
200ml , Vg
100ml Pg

4 small syringe
2 medium syringe

2 x 100ml bottles
Which I then put the vg and Pg into for easier poring into small 30ml bottles

Ordered 30ml bottles 3 per flavour I bought.

Found a 500g scale at home and used this to measure weight.

Website used was
E liquid recipe.

Very easy site.


Started 70/30
with 1.5% of flav then 2% then 2.5%

Fruit was quick 1 night ready to vape

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[Soutie]

I am wondering if its easier with a scale. And how so? If you mixing small quantities at a time I am sure a syringe is faster. But if mixing larger amounts? Can someone with some experience please elaborate on this a bit.

Definitely get a scale, one that goes to tenth of a gram. They are sold by Blckvapour too.

When using syringes you need to have a dedicated syringe per concentrate to not cross contaminate, you clean up becomes huge due to this.

Mixing with a scale is a pleasure, most concentrates come in plastic dropper bottles now days and makes it super easy, add a drop and watch the scale go up. The tare function will be your friend, hit that and resets your scale to 0 regardless of what is on the scale, allows you to be very precise and you will be doing this in your final bottle rather than buggering around with beakers and pippets or the like.

 

[StangV2_0]

Definitely get a scale, one that goes to tenth of a gram. They are sold by Blckvapour too.

When using syringes you need to have a dedicated syringe per concentrate to not cross contaminate, you clean up becomes huge due to this.

Mixing with a scale is a pleasure, most concentrates come in plastic dropper bottles now days and makes it super easy, add a drop and watch the scale go up. The tare function will be your friend, hit that and resets your scale to 0 regardless of what is on the scale, allows you to be very precise and you will be doing this in your final bottle rather than buggering around with beakers and pippets or the like.

Ah ok..

So just know the ml/gram conversions and keep hitting tare.

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[Soutie]

Ah ok..

So just know the ml/gram conversions and keep hitting tare.

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Precisely,

E-liquid recipes does all the hard conversion work to grams for you too. You literally need to keep track so you don't add the same concentrate twice. It's happened to me when the wife wanted to have a conversation half way through mixing and I lost track

 

[StangV2_0]

Precisely,

E-liquid recipes does all the hard conversion work to grams for you too. You literally need to keep track so you don't add the same concentrate twice. It's happened to me when the wife wanted to have a conversation half way through mixing and I lost track

Lol. Ok cool. Thanks man!

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[Glytch]

Perhaps I can add something different.

I've ordered from Blckvapour and they were brilliant but the other concentrate vendors are also very good. I settled on e-liquid-concentrates.co.za due to their prices being lower and their shipping quicker to my location. Shop around.

I got some GREAT advice from the more experienced members when I was starting out with my DIY about 2 months ago. Here's some of the better advice:

1. Get a scale
2. There is no replacement for steeping the old-fashioned way (dark cool cupboard)

However, many told me that I would need to get at least 10 different concentrates as I might mix something horrible. I ignored this advice and did this instead:

1. Look REALLY hard for a simple recipe with good reviews
2. Buy as little as possible (I bought nic, vg, pg and three concentrates)
3. Mix something that needs to steep
4. Mix a fruit flavour to shake and vape
5. Taste the steeping juice every few days
6. Make more than you think (I started with 120ml steeping juice and 50ml shake and vape).

Hope this helps.

 

[Shelley]

http://diyordievaping.com/2015/10/02/how-to-use-an-ejuice-calculator-and-mix-with-a-scale/


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[gertvanjoe]

well I am yet to start mixing by weight. So I have a dedicated syringe for each flavour. The Vg pg and nic I premix into 100ml batches ( up the nic slightly to compensate for final product. Maybe 1mg ). and get the thickest needless they have.

Sent from Mars

 

[Caveman]

At the very least you will need:
Nic, VG, PG, Bottles, Something to mix with (syringes or scale), some flavor concentrates.

If you like fruity vapes, I can suggest the Monster Melons Clone (http://e-liquid-recipes.com/recipe/127149/Mikes+Melons+%28Cuttwood+Monster+Melon+Clone%29) A simple 3 concentrate recipe that is simply amazing. Still one of my ADV's after 5 months of DIY (albeit I have altered it a bit to suite my tastes)

Some sites:
http://e-liquid-recipes.com/
https://alltheflavors.com/recipes
https://www.reddit.com/r/diy_ejuice
http://www.lediypourlesnuls.com. (Clone Recipes)
http://www.kritikalmass.net. (Some more clones)

Some moar things:
1. Read this: https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/2iq3km/botboy141_guide_to_mixing_by_weight/
2. Find a recipe that is close to the flavor profile you currently enjoy vaping(try and use only well reviewed recipes)
3. Mix
4. Profit


Side Effect of DIY:
Loss of Sanity
Loss of sense of time when mixing
Learning patience from scratch
Always needing at least 1 more flavor
Absolute elation when you finally get a recipe and profile you love, followed shortly by thoughts of "how can I make this better"
Trying to think in terms of how you can make any taste into a vape. (Seriously this happens, you catch yourself eating or drinking something nice, and you think, "hmmm I wonder what flavors I have that will make something like this")
Decrease in re-wick time of your favorite RDA

Also, check out the DIY recipes on this Forum. There are quite a few nice recipes on here and you will find that they have been mixed and reviewed by Forum members

 

[Spydro]

In this turn key mentality world everyone wants instant gratification. But the correct first step before you buy anything IMO should be doing a lot of research yourself about everything and anything related to DIY if your goal is the best vape to your personal tastes. There are literally thousands of resources out there now to weed through on line to weigh and form your own opinions from, a very long list of things to understand fully before diving in. And learn to weed out the hype, it is based on some one else's personal tastes, not yours. I bought hundreds of premades that many of were hyped and most of were not to my liking, so I tossed them out and vaped very few of them. Like most good things in life you earn from what you sow in DIY. Taste is subjective to an individual, so DIY done right for you personally requires a knowledge base to build from, and to keep building on over the years. A lot of time, effort and expense will be wasted otherwise. When you do dive in, make notes as you learn each flavor alone to find your taste for it before attempting 'recipes' of 2, then 3 then multiple flavors to find out what compliments each other to your own personal tastes. Anything short of that and you are cheating yourself out of your perfect vapes.

I spent a few weeks of endless hours every day and night 3.5 years ago doing research before I dove in and placed my first orders for DIY gear/supplies, and I still made some mistakes in flavor concentrates I didn't like so never used. But in time I found my niche, what my personal tastes were, how to build for them, etc. Now DIY is second nature for me, so coming up with something new that I know I will like is easy... because I earned that knowledge myself.

 

[kev mac]

The whole DIY juice making has piqued my interest. But I don't know where to start. It seems a bit daunting actually. I am a relatively experienced vaper and want to take it up a notch. I have watched a few You tube tutorial clips and I get the basic idea. Can anyone recommend a vendor where I can order a complete starter pack with good instructions that will allow me to get going? Although its not "Rocket science", I would really appreciate it if someone can "hold my hand" on this new journey and just help me. Thanks up front...

I would use pre mixed pg-vg if you can get it.Just makes it much easier.

 

[SAVaper]

I would use pre mixed pg-vg if you can get it.Just makes it much easier.

I have never had a premix so it is difficult for me to give a objective opinion but I think as for now I prefer to buy mine separate.
What if I want to change the ratio in a specific recipe? My recipes range from 30/70 to 50/50 with 35/65 being very common because I use my own calculation sheet. If I only have a specific premix, that might make thing difficult for my recipe.

 

[Huffapuff]

@Waine a word of warning before you jump down the rabbit hole that is DIY: be prepared to have your life changed forever! Vaping is one thing, but DIY is an entirely different beast. Your time will be spent researching flavour profiles and recipe sites, mixing and steeping and ordering new flavours in a constant search for DIY's holy grail - the perfect ADV

There has been some excellent advice given above - a lot I wish I'd received when I started!

My DIY adventure began on VU where I discovered Head in Clouds - a great mixologist imo. I went for his Tribeca Halo Clone and Vanilla Nut Coffee, bought the necessary ingredients and 250ml VG and 250ml VG and some nicotine.

I used syringes to make my base to which I added the flavour concentrates. I didn't have a scale, and still don't (gasp!) as I simply use drops. I know it's not the most accurate but it makes about a 0.1% difference which my tastebuds don't notice

For weeks I just had those 2 juices as I learnt more and slowly grew my concentrate and recipe collection.

Eventually I began to venture into mixing my own stuff with limited success to be honest Even though there's a steep learning curve and I wasted a fair amount of my precious resources I always had some reliable recipes which kept me vaping on the cheap Now my success rate is improving and I'm beginning to understand how to build a decent juice.

The way I see it is there are way better mixologists out there than me. I found some that have similar tastes to me and they seldom disappoint.

So now I go to certain mixologists for certain flavour profiles. For example, someone like Wayne Walker (DIYORDIE) has quite a sweet tooth, HIC has more bakery and boozy tastes and I think the best tobaccos are here from the likes of @Andre and @Viper_SA. So see what they offer and start from there

Enjoy the journey and share your creations

 

[notna]

really appreciate it if someone can "hold my hand" on this new journey and just help me. Thanks up front...

Cheapest DIY webiste in RSA, stocks TFA and DIY accessories

www.atmosfear.co.za[/QUOTE]
Open 24/7!!

Perfect for that late night single flavor rush.. Hehe

 

[Huffapuff]

Cheapest DIY webiste in RSA, stocks TFA and DIY accessories

www.atmosfear.co.za

Secondly, spamming 8 DIY threads with the same response is a poor method of marketing! Maybe he really does love them, but that is spamming!

*EDIT* screenie attached

@Alexi How about you spam us once you have more concentrates for sale? I have a bigger collection with more variety than you do atm