MORE UPDATE
There's some nice progress accomplished lately, using this little metal "screen" i found in Montreal a few weeks ago:
This is conical in shape, appears to be light metal - possibly aluminium. It has 17 holes drilled through it, to allow the passage of burning-hot exhaust gasses captured by a flame catcher shown next:
Actually this was my former personalized "core" for a "Modded VG Pipe". The new core structure ain't much different from what's being pictured below:
So one could comment the UFO has replaced the TriPods!...
Anyway the "Front-Puck" on that photograph (lower-right corner) is 3 mm thick at this moment,thoguh my intuition suggest it should be at least 4 mm in order to become properly opaque for my goal.
I've replaced the "Top-of-Bowl" screen with a brass one thinking it must help store some more energy, obviously.
The blackened steel screen has been changed too but there would just be none at all if i could help it. %)
Actually i must try 4 mm for the Front-Puck while the Top-of-Bowl probably needs to be 3 mm thick, still wrapped by a brass screen serving both for thermal mass and mechanical support. Which i find convenient as i recall the VG sphere didn't retain my pucks too well once these started to show degradation signs resulting into premature erosion, because of successive experimental manipulations, etc.
My setup will look more like this the next time i get a chance to implement it appropriately:
The thicker SiC disc i call "puck" that is shown down under was 5 mm thick back in those days, as i recall.
That may be too much but i'd insist anyone attempting to replicate my results will be better advised not to use anything thinner than 4 mm for a Front-Puck, the reason being it's opaque beyond such thickness and i figured that's a desirable feature when intense radiative heat causes issues...
Ah, and speaking of issues...
This is an improved replacement for my previous aluminium shield/radiator + glass deflector structure, in "Plan-A" mode no metals are expected to reach temperatures above the designer Curie point selected for implementation. Since i don't even have one bit of scrap Curie alloy to begin with this is only theoretical so far. Yet, i'm convinced i must explore such alternative(s) some day, or just let time work for me by waiting after the market to apply "intelligent" metal principles, etc.
In any case the "UFO" (conical "screen"/filter, whatever thing) with 17 heat-exchanging conduits once wrapped into a brass screen fits this size conveniently. Now lets take a look at the genuine Classic setup:
It's just 1 thick (~7.5 mm) puck with little seating support at its base preventing a fall. This design fails after erosion kicks in, eventually. So here's a double-function fix:
Warp it into a metal screen, i prefered to choose brass instead of stainless steel (the image above is from my previous experiment). But then i found radiative heat was still a problem so i added 1 layer of air then another screen made of stainless steel. Not convinced it was sufficient i finally added yet another stainless steel screen, so we got in the end a Top-of-Bowl 2 mm SiC puck (which should be 3 mm thick instead) that is wrapped by brass screening then covered with 2 stainless steel screens and some air layer in between every single item of those. Using a 3 mm Top-of-Bowl SiC disc i suppose i'd be able to drop 1 stainless steel screen, maybe both hopefully. Perhaps the brass screen simply needs to be thicker/heavier, similarily to my present 2 mm...
I'm no longer making any sense, am i??
Ah, now this is an illustration meant to inspire visualisation of the LavaWand concept.
Notice the Arizer Solo Glass Stem has its Glass Bowl covered by metal. Imagine this metal were hot enough to heat up the load inside that glass bowl, beyond its glass wall... Because radiative heat passes through glass practically at the speed of light, i figure. This opens the door to quick pre-heating without any contact with metals since the IH element is kept outside our lungs path. Not a bad thing IMO... So, with instant pre-heating required it seems Induction Heat technology imposes itself ultimately, because it's powerfull and quick while when combined to the Curie effect it becomes possible to get rid of complex temperature monitoring/control and whatnot: just inject magnetic excitation into the flux concentrator circling a Bi-Energy compatible capsule where the core turns into a radiator closely coupled to a 17 holes heat-exchanger radiating heat towards the SiC Pucks while convection heat is also supplied, which eventually reaches a pre-heated load into the cannabic bowl...
But that's a dry scenario and i wish no Lava scenario ever excludes anyone, starting with me! So that means in absence of clean butane burning i'd need to rely on a drop-by-drop boiler/evaporator to enrich hot dry air with water vapor, so the releasing/transport agent become more potent than simply dry air alone. Because water vapor absorbs a lot of energy, so i guess that what's makes my butane-operated pipe so distinct nothing else will work.
So, below it's a Top-of-Bowl combo made of the brass screen and corresponding SiC puck. 2 mm is an absolute minimum i believe, try 3 mm 1st instead!
Here it's where the
Cannabic Load resides, between its Top-of-Bowl brass (+optional air-layer/screen) on top and metal bowl below.
(Loose/Floating heat-dispersive screen)
M'well, to be exact this specific image shows how to shield the vegetal load which is located under it. It seems some metals are particularily efficient at dispersing heat, which limits the occurance of hot-spots and hence potentially combustion fumes, etc...
And it reminds me...
(Wenzhou Menghu Lighter Co. MF208)
Those lighters are convenient though their limited tank capacity requires me to keep them filled to capacity in order to obtain predictable operation.
...
Induction Heat would eliminate the need for butane burning during the pre-heat phase. Only customers requiring Inlet Self-Conditioning, etc., will need to decide if it's OKay or not to inhale while burning butane. Personally i'd advise to never ever inhale in absence of a stable flame, it's this very mater conversion which transforms butane gas into reaction by-products which obviously affect the vaporization process in a definitive manner. Consequently it's also of Paramount importance that the flame can't touch anything at any time, if it does be quick to stop what's you're doing and try better again. Climbing the learning curve requires determination and patience but the goal is to appreciate cannabis with a tool not unlike a musical instrument, as a result of its analog/organic dimension i would comment, euh... At least i know i'm depening on water vapor in my inlet path and only butane-burning will provide that to me. Forget anything electric-dry, it's not going to be of any use to me anymore. Not even as an auxiliary pre-conditioner or something.
Now what's it all about?
Visualize some Unidentified Filter Object (UFO)... It's structured as the UFO previously mentioned, with heat-exchanging channels and a defocussing mass that also stores diverted energy, etc. The object's size and weight don't change significantly over time, which implies that since they stop absorbing alternating magnetic energy beyond their characteristic designer Curie-temperature these IH elements implement thermostatic behaviour at the point of contact. Theoretically...
So?... M'well, finite mass corresponds to finite energy absorbtion/storage i suppose, e.g. this implements the means for precise dosage and i believe if there's a factor which may have hurt much too many people in past decades it was probably the lack of control over dosage, translating as an impossibility to explore alternate consumption rituals possibly more beneficial to the end user... I'm thinkink about ~100 mg bowls of dry shreaded cannabis herb. I've got a hint that's still plenty to choke on it if not properly delivered.
With IH pre-heating the pipe which supports my "Plan-B" scenario will offer guys like me an element that is truly required. One feature without which just a couple inhalations suffice to render the next minutes miserable and even beyond. What can i say, i don't tolerate such dryness anymore and i tried hard to compensate, but only inlet H2O potentialization appears to promise a final solution. Because it's energy-dense i think and also self-moisturizing, from the inlet side please! The IH element's mass being what's determining the maximal thermal "charge" (as its Curie point is reached) we get a quick/efficient way to inject energy packets of replicable capacity... I expect in a micro-dosage application such convenient characteristic has an edge by allowing finer user-control. For those concerned with their tolerance level this feature might prove decisive! Not to mention it would render the whole concept socially-acceptable since it's clearly aiming for "Harm-Reduction" since IH pre-heating effectively reduces exposure to anything that might/would/could come from butane burning. The vaporist purists should appreciate that, and if they don't then they can start asking for "bio" butane! Euh... But a Lava vape also needs to be affordable and that's how i came to think the experiments wouldn't rely on a better existing products than VaporGenie's concept, because i can't think of a better way to value SiC structures. It's simply perfect for the task and even versatile enough to render Bi-Energy possible. Yet it's pattented so the reader who's interested to explore this subject by himself needs to assume voiding VG's waranty on a pipe that got personalized so extensively i figure! With that said i'm confident the proud VG pipe owners who'd dare give it a try will notice a gain, except perhaps those with lungs of steel. That's only "Plan-B" but it gives a hint what's ahead.
The ritual with easy/efficient pre-heating can be changed from sustained effort to self-entertainment. It's what's missing, IH pre-heating for a potent pipe!
And now that i've adjusted its core to extend the range of application so i can gain access to it my intuition says the body will be happy to acquire a few last skills that i need to master for suitable operation of a LavaWand, ideally.
Time to go. Good day, have fun!!
