• CD Moderators: someguyontheinternet
  • Cannabis Discussion Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules

Solar Toking tip -- the right magnifying glass

A

arthunter888

Bluelighter
Joined
May 23, 2009
Messages
623
When I get a bright, sunny day, it's awesome to use a magnifying glass to vaporize/clean-burn the herb. I'm finding however, that even with a fully bright sun, it is hard to find just the right combination of angle and distance to successfully smoke this way. I think it may have to due with the cheap magnifyer I'm using.
My magnifying glass is a standard round (2-3inch) glass attached to a stick, with a little 'zoom-ring' within it for further magnifying. I believe the magnification level is 2 or 3x.

For the purpose of solar toking, what characteristic(s) should I look for when selecting a magnifying glass? Is it the magnification level that matters most? Or is it the size of the glass that matters most. Or is it both?
 
dude i've never met anyone else who does this!! get a larger diameter glass one they're easier to work with. Man i love doing this with my bong and hash no butane taste at all!
 
maybe some foil or something to help reflect more could help you burn it better. i wanna light a cigarette off that.
 
^ i believe thats only looking into the sun. haah solar toking. sounds positively righteous, and the next time i come across a magnifying glass and am in posession of cannabis ill haveta give this a go.
 
When you focus sunlight with a magnifying lens, you are pretty much creating the appearance of a miniature sun. You have to see what you're burning to make sure the light is being focused correctly. Looking at that bright point too many times surely can't be good for your eyes! I know every time I've done this, I was left seeing spots before my eyes.

I recommend using welder's goggles...
 
^You're probably right, I used to use sunglasses when I did this, and it helped a lot.
OP: Any large reading magnifier works, you can buy em at walgreens, any pharmacy or supermarket. Make sure it has a more powerful center optic, that you'll use for the bud. I found that holding it around 6 to 8 inches, maybe even a foot, works best. You'll have to experiment, and each lens will be different, but the idea is to focus the light into as small an area as possible. It takes some practice to get it down, and it requires patience in the process.

happy solar smoking! :D
 
mecaib said:
When you focus sunlight with a magnifying lens, you are pretty much creating the appearance of a miniature sun. You have to see what you're burning to make sure the light is being focused correctly. Looking at that bright point too many times surely can't be good for your eyes! I know every time I've done this, I was left seeing spots before my eyes.

I recommend using welder's goggles...
Click to expand...

You gotta use the move/check/move/check technique. You should have learned this as a child!
 
It seems that the larger the lens the better, but is the magnification level of any importance?
 
man you gotta bong hoot it solar tokes are pretty harsh sometimes just because of the insane heat
 
arthunter888 said:
It seems that the larger the lens the better, but is the magnification level of any importance?
Click to expand...


Does it? Lens size means nothing.....
Magnification is the ONLY thing that is important. Lens size is not of any importance at all. 8)
 
I believe you can purchase a bowl(seemed universal) that has the lens attached at the perfect distance... so you just have to point it in right direction.
 
carl said:
Does it? Lens size means nothing.....
Magnification is the ONLY thing that is important. Lens size is not of any importance at all. 8)
Click to expand...

Not true. A larger lens captures more light at a given magnification.

My intuition tells me the factor used for comparison should be (lens area) * (magnification). So you can either have a really big lens or a really strong lens.
 
Yes, when we're talking in the size of meters. Here, we differentiating between a 3'' diameter and a 4.5'' diameter reading lens, which would have negligible effect. However, the difference between a 4x and a 14x magnification is significantly large, the only variable factor in this purchase that would change the heat output.
 
carl said:
Yes, when we're talking in the size of meters. Here, we differentiating between a 3'' diameter and a 4.5'' diameter reading lens, which would have negligible effect. However, the difference between a 4x and a 14x magnification is significantly large, the only variable factor in this purchase that would change the heat output.
Click to expand...

That's a 2.25x increase in lens area, which is pretty huge.
 
^^ How is 4.5" a 2.25x increase from 3"? The former would be 1.5x the size of the latter (4.5/3).

On another note, it seems there is disagreement about which of the lens size or magnification level would be better. I'm sure that a magnifying glass that had both higher lens size AND higher magn. level would be better than the rest, but if I had to choose one or the other then which is best?

Magnifyer 1 has a smaller lens area but higher magnification than magnifyer 2.

Magnifyer 2 has a higher lens area but smaller magnification than magnifyer 1.
 
Wouldn't the magnification level of the magnifying glass only change how far the glass needs to be from the object you're magnifying? meaning the 'concentration point' of the suns rays will be closer to the object at a higher magnification level?

Someone clarify me on that, but I think only the size matters, the larger the glass the more of the suns rays can be captured and 'concentrated'.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top