I'm just thinking, why do we need all these special rare materials in the first place?
A piece of stainless steel cut to size with a few miniature holes drilled through it will block off the flame from getting too close (It should be held at a distance away anyway) as well as heat up to provide vaporization.
Fit the steel piece to a 18m-14m gong adapter and add to your device of choice, be it bong, diffuser or sherlock GVG lookalike.

A small piece of steel, a friend who will cut it to size and a gong adapter should cost around $15, it may not be perfect, but I have faith it will get the job done.

I admit the GVG looks nice, but $100 is out of the question. Obviously they're doing fine at that price and have no need to change it, but many of us require something more affordable.

That's true Electric Sight. I was thinking about jamming some steel wool into one of those glass adapters to block the flame/combustion. It would still be possible to burn the spice though, as steel can get pretty hot, silicon carbide can't. However, steel gets hot quick and cools down quick. I am sure with practice, one could perfect the technique and it would be close to a VG. I may end up taking an approach such as this, but I want to rule out other possibilities first.

Well the steel wool would be jammed inside the adapter to hold the spice, but I'm thinking of also adding a solid piece of flat steel with a couple tiny holes in it to plug the top of the adapter. It would have to be cut exactly to size, and if it was a little on the thicker side, I think it would work better.

By all means keep experimenting though, it would be wonderful if we get this to work!

Edit: It would appear that even with the GVG steel wool is still required to hold the spice or else dripping of spice becomes a major issue.

I was suggesting steel wool for both the top and bottom. A steel plate with holes in it would still provide the right conditions for combustion (a bad thing). Heat, oxygen and a fuel (DMT) = combustion ... DMT catching on fire. Steel wool would suppress a fire if it were placed inside the adapter while allowing hot air to pass through. This is my humble opinion only though, so I may eat my words. I have no hard data to back this up. I suppose that I could give both a try. Why not?

The plate would just be there to help prevent the flame from entering the adapters chamber holding the steel wool + spice.
In my experience using something "machine" like, I had trouble keeping the flame at a good distance without accidently sucking it into the chamber thus burning the spice
____________
|..LIGHTER.......|
|___________|
..{.}
...\/

/----\
]SSS[
]SDS[...............___
]SSS[............../.._O]
.\....\_______/../
..\__________/

lol like my diagram?
The --- is the steel plate acting as a flame guard so the fire never enters the chamber. It has tiny holes to allow airflow. It should heat up similarly to the wool and cool similarly too. SSS=steel wool D=spice contained within wool. The "..." are just to get the diagram to appear correct in the post.

The flame should never touch the steel plate, but if it accidentally does for a moment; hypothetically it should protect it from hitting the spice. I fear if the top was left open, the flame could get sucked into the chamber while inhaling which would burn the spice.
I don't think combustion will be an issue as airflow would be similar with or without the plate (Hypothetically).
It could easily be done without the plate but more care would have to be put into controlling the flame distance, which can get a little tricky when everything starts morphing into Egyptian hieroglyphs.

I'd test the adapter with the wool first before investing too much time + effort to make sure it works well. The plate would just be a tweak added to hopefully allow less thought about technique and more towards preparing for what's to come.

I guess you are suggesting something like this

By the way, that is a pretty interesting web site, fuckcombustion.com

Fuck combustion indeed, my friends

Watch out for steel wool, it burns very easily. You won't like smoking that.

Thanks for the tip. Steel wool is out.

I was referring to the steel scrubbers used in the machine and gvg. I suppose wool is something else? Steel mesh I should have said.
That lotus vape is a pretty similar concept. I just noticed the lotus is going for $110 on the site FC forum linked to. Might as well buy a genie lol.

I think I'll still try my design one day, I have a feeling it will work.

I followed your link to the Lotus Vaporizer, and that gave me an idea. All one really needs is a simple heat exchanger to warm air. I made a simple drawing to illustrate the idea:

The metal tubing (which could be shaped decoratively – spiral or other shape) is heated with a torch. Air is drawn through the pipe and is heated. By the time it reaches the pipe chamber, assuming the tubing is long enough, it will be sufficiently hot to vaporize the contents of the chamber.

The tubing would have to be a non-reactive metal, since it’s being heated to a high temperature. It’s diameter would have to be sufficient to allow a comfortable draw, yet narrow enough to maximize heat exchange. Maybe multiple skinny tubes?

The nice thing about this setup is that it doesn’t expose the contents of the chamber to combustion gasses.

That's interesting. They have stainless steel tubing for sale on ebay for about $2.00 + $6.00 shipping. If you were hardcore you could probably go to your local junk/salvage yard and pick one up for a buck. It is brake/fuel line tubing. I'm sure you have plenty of solvent to clean it.

I think it would be cool to form it to the double helix shape.

The way this is looking, what I'll probably end up doing is drilling/carving my own base and shaft out of wood, get some metal/glass piece for the bowl and buy a stem/mouthpiece from a tobacco pipe store.

I find that the satisfaction one gets from handcrafting his own pipe is almost as rewarding as the spice itself. I once carved a pipe out of meerschaum in the likeness of my son. It turned out well and I loved smoking (tobacco) out of that thing.

A wood piece with some DMT inspired designs carved into it (maybe a net of eyes), with a stainless steel double helix on the top that you torch, would be too sick. I almost wouldn't care if it were a little less efficient than the VG, as long as it was close.

That's if tubing works and is practical; I may have to / want to do the steel plate thing. This is also pending a response from the materials expert to see if there is a better route.

One good source for glass tubing is a neon sign shop. They have very nice pyrex tubing which is inert and also can take a lot of heat without cracking. A sign shop will have many different diameters to choose from. You can bend and form the pyrex tubing with a propane torch. A little practice and you'll be a pro. Stainless steel would be another good material. Most brake lines are not stainless but perhaps some are...I'm not really sure about that.

I really have no idea, I am just learning as I go and can't really say "How to figure out which one to use". I know stainless steel, brass and nickel are ok. Aluminum and copper are not recommended. Any glass you get at a headshop is ok. Or, as cker stated, a neon sign shop. Thin glass can expand when changing temperatures rapidly, thick glass will crack when changing temperatures rapidly. This is why the crack-type pipes are thin glass. Cracking is usually not an issue with metals. Whatever makes sense I guess.

Sorry, I wish I had a more definitive answer for you.

So....it's ready now....the youniverse made it (in In-diya) a.k.a the vapor demon:
£ 7.15 - free shipping
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321502478573
it's not ready for use as is, but intended for customization with flavour disc, volcano pad, stacked screens, choreboy, brillo or a combination of these....etc
Here is the instruction:
http://omgeezy.co.uk/vap...and-how-to-instructions/

[quote=Apoc] I think it would be good to have a pipe that has a removable bowl, so it can be disassembled and does not look like a smoking device once taken apart.
quote]

Thats the same way i look at smoking devices!!
Something that can be taken apart cleaned easily and not look like anything conspicuis!

I take my pipe apart.. [quick clean it]..and store its peices in three diferent locations!

Even the great performing GVG [Looks much like what it is!] and could be a liability if found by the klingons.. especially it it contained residue...

Quick break down.. and easy to clean pipes are smart in my opinion ..and should be a future trend for those who value their liberty...

..so we bought one of these vapor demons and tested it for a couple of days,
and for £7.15 it is a great pipe, both to give away and for outside use -
one can even see the vapor (if a bit cross eyed). The negative: the bowl
and that triangular joint can get pretty hot, specially when using a torch
lighter. And the 11.1mm ceramic flavor disc fit's snug into the top when
wrapped 3X with some 0.020mm copper wire. The only other modification we
made was a little retaining ring from an old key ring.

The pipe vapes pretty good. We also tried another kind of heat shield made from
0.020mm uncoated copper wire (like the one seen in the bowl), shaped into the
size of the top part and with a stainless screen above it and beneath.
We like the set up with this self made copper volcano pad even better.
We can make a hundred of these for a a buck or so and cheerfully loose
them in the woods without regret..Here are pics with the ceramic setup..

B

Btw: the transparent bit is not glass but some very thick acylic or PMMA. The blue stripes thingy is injected in there permanently and cannot be removed Other than this: We love it! Shipped with 5 screens + one installed in the bowl.