Home Made Vaporizer *Large Pictures*

This is one of my few posts on this forum, and I would like to share with you my newest build. This is a home engineered vaporizer that I built two days ago. It is based off of the simple soldering iron concept, but I stepped up the build a little bit.



Parts List:
Wooden Box - Hobby Lobby: $3
Glass Jar - Hobby Lobby: $1.50
15watt Soldering Iron - Radio Shack: $9
Blue LED Lamp - Radio Shack: $2
Wire Screws - Radio Shack: $2
600watt Light Dimmer - Lowes: $5
20feet surgical grade hose - Lowes: $4
Hose Quick Connect - Lowes: $2
Melon Baller - Walmart: $2
Aluminum Dial: Freebie

Total Cost: ~$30

Step 1: Fitting the dimmer. The ends were a bit long, about 1/4" on either side of the box, so I grinded them down to size with a bench grinder so that it held up with friction.



Step 2: Cutting/Drilling the holes. I marked where the stem of the dimmer would go through the front and drilled a hole for it to pass through, thus marking the location of the knob.



I used that smaller hole as a guide for a hole saw just a little bit smaller than the aluminum dial I pulled off an old radio. I also drilled the hole for the hose to go through the front.



Using a dremel, I sanded the hole to fit the dial perfectly and cleaned up any rough edges. I glued the dimmer to the inside front of the box with simple elmer's glue letting it dry over night, and then attached the dial.



Next I picked the placement of the glas jar enclosure. Using the lid as a guide, I traced the inner and outer diameter to see where it would be glued to the top later on. Then I drilled and tapped the hole for the hose inlet, and drilled a clean hole for the light. The hose inlet was later turned into a spot for the iron via hole saw, and I moved the inlet more towards the front.




Step 3: Prepping the Bowl. I used a melon baller from Walmart for the bowl. Using a cutting wheel on the dremel, it came off like butter and then I grinded down the knub to a smooth surface




A metric screw bolted the bowl down to the iron tip.



This picture shows the new placement of the iron, hose inlet, and light.



Step 4: Wiring the circuit. I used a simple circuit to complete the connection. I had to cut the power cord to the iron to run it through the back of the box to be reconnected later. I also cut off the end of the plastic iron handle so it would fit the height of the box. But whatever you do, don't forget to re-attach the ground wire to the iron. I learned this the hard way: thank science for breakers, otherwise I would have turned into a transformer in my bedroom.

Step 5: Piecing it all together. Circuit now complete, I was able to rewire it together inside of the box and it all fit quite nicely. I ran the hose through the front hole in the box and up to the quick connect.

Step 6: First I super glued down the lid to the top of the box, then ran a bead of hot glue around the outer edge for good measure. I also glued the power cord into the back hole so that it wasn't tugging on the electrics inside.





And there you have it! Total time of building was about 3 hours minus the time it took the glue to dry. The aluminum dial on the front is the on/off button. Just give it a push and the light comes on, which also dims with the temperature as you turn the dial up and down. I have not had a chance to check the temperature yet, but I suspect that the iron is not heating up my green enough because it is not giving off as much vapor as I expect it should, if this is the case i'll get a 30watt iron and rewire it in.



Thanks for looking!

 

Close, I'm a physics major (started out as aerospace and mechanical engineering though ).

Thanks. I've had the idea in my head for a while now and just kind of went with it. I didn't have any plans drawn, just the idea and sort of pieced it together in my head as I went. That's usually how I make my home made smoking devices. Hobby Lobby had the wooden box that fit the iron perfectly and the only thing I could think of for the glass was a screw on jar. I went to walmart looking for stainless steel soup ladles for the bowl but found that melon baller instead.

Lol, uh, somewhere in the midwest. I knew someone would read those names LOL


Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm thinking about staining the wood dark brown and then sealing it. Maybe after that I'll post a step by step how to on my glass water pipes.

Cheers

 

Thanks!

I'd like to point out that at the moment I am having difficulty with getting the iron to heat the bowl to ~350*F. The iron tip itself is getting hotter than 400*F, but the screw does not seem to conduct heat very well. I am going to try several different screws and see if I can get a better result, and if that doesn't work I'll replace the 15w iron with a 40w (has a bigger tip, which means more heat and a bigger connection).