In the recent months there has been a lot of talk about dabbing here on the Nexus. It is a relatively new ROA here only really getting talked about frequently in the past year. Although it is a fairly well developed culture among cannabis concentrate enthusiasts, it does not seem to be as well understood by the Nexus community. I am sure there are a lot of you that know a good amount about it and others that do not.

Although there have been a few threads (like this one) about dabbing, there is currently no formal thread on everything this process involves. I think this could be a very valuable resource and would eliminate a lot of the questions and confusion some people have on the subject. I have made a general outline of things I find important and will start off with that. I would really appreciate your guys feedback and input. I am sure I have not covered everything or perhaps am unclear in certain areas and should re-word them. Please add anything you feel is important and edit what I have written if you feel it needs it and post it in the comments. I would really like to here from both people who are familiar with the process as well as people who are not. This way we can cover all the information and make sure it is clear to someone who is trying it for the first time. I can update the main thread as needed as updates come in.

I know a lot of the information here may seem simple or obvious but keep in mind this thread is meant to cover absolutely everything.

Again this is just my first draft so it is very open to changes. This is my personal favorite ROA and I like that it can be as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. It is very customizable and all the parts are easily accessible in most areas. I would love for some information on glass pipe legality in other countries as I am not sure about it and would love to provide that information here. I am going to try and not put any personal bias in the information but I am sure the inevitably will be some. again feel free to help me edit.

Anyways, lets get to the information!


The main thing you are going to need to buy when trying to vaporize DMT by "dabbing" is a dab rig, or water pipe. This is essentially a bong usually intended/ used for tobacco or cannabis with a few minor differences, the biggest being the joint is generally "male" rather than "female". We will talk about this difference and others more later in this section. You can find these in smoke shops all across the United States, and probably the world. They are also readily available online from hundreds of vendors. They are perfectly legal in the United States and are sold as either tobacco pipes or oil burners. As long as there is no illegal resin inside them you can posses these with no legal repercussions.
PLEASE NOTE: I only know this to be true in the United States. I know other countries have similar policies but I also know some do not. I am not sure on specificities however with your help hopefully a list of countries and there laws on pipes will be posted soon!

There are many things to consider when choosing a rig. There are probably hundreds of thousands of options out there and there isn't really a wrong one. Some are better than others and some look cooler than others. I will try and share a few things I look for in glass and somethings you guys may find helpful as well. That said, as long as the glass functions it is good enough. A lot of the extra stuff is unnecessary and simply to refine the process. There is also a pretty big culture around "function glass art". This is really beautiful glass that you can smoke out of. For most people it is just interesting to look at pictures. Some, however, buy and usually collect many pieces from different artists. If people would like I can start to work on a section about this but it does not really seem relevant to the nexus in this section.

GLASS QUALITY
The first and main thing I look for in a piece is whether or not the glass is quality. There are different types and thicknesses of glass. Just about every piece in a smoke shop is going to be borosilicate. Although this can be a very strong glass, if it is not annealed properly it can shatter. Quality glass can be dropped and hard floor with relatively no effect. And occasionally when they do break, the breaks can be much less critical. I have seen people hammer in nails with glass pipes as well as throw them across parking lots. It is a common misconception that glass of this nature is brittle or delicate. The reason most people fin this to be true is because the vast majority of inexpensive glass is very poor quality.

Oneiros_Glass was kind enough to share some information on annealing with us. He will help to explain how is works and what it does!

Oneiros_glass wrote:

Annealing is the process of keeping glass hot enough so that the molecules can “straighten out” after being mixed and allowing the strain to release.

Glass is a supercooled liquid. When it is heated to the point at which it becomes molten, its liquid characterstics are obvious. As it cools, it becomes stuck in a solid-like state with no crystallization. Essentially, the viscosity of supercooled liquid rises until it becomes an amorphous solid or glass.

Now, when glass is molten, it's possible to shape it into all kinds of forms, to create all kinds of angles and seals, to weld and fuse various pieces and shapes together. However, as the glass cools, thicker sections cool more slowly than thinner sections. And when glass cools it contracts (when it heats, it expands). So, as you can imagine, when one section of a glass object cools faster than other sections, this means that part of the object is contracting faster than others. This introduces stress into the glass, which can cause "checking" (internal strain points that look like encased cracks), cracking, or shattering.

Annealing is the process of removing the stress introduced into the glass by working it, usually by using a kiln. Essentially, annealing consists of heating a glass object to the point at which the glass becomes evenly hot, just below working temperature, thereby releasing the stress. Once the glass is evenly hot and releases the stress, it is then cooled very gradually, so the the thin and thick sections cool at the same rate and stress is not reintroduced to the glass.

When a piece is properly annealed, there should be minimal stress left in the glass. However, there are some exceptions. Without getting too much into the coefficients of expansion (COE) of different types of glass, there are two particularly relevant points to understand about stress in relation to stress remaining in properly annealed work.

Encased opals should always be considered to be under stress. Despite their popularity, opals (yes, even synthetic opals commonly used) are not truly compatible with borosilicate. Having opals in a piece will cause stress. This does not mean that the piece will break or that it should be considered unusable or prone to cracking, just that there is a higher baseline of stress than the glass would have without the opal(s) in it.

Secondly, some colors are not compatible with other colors (or clear). Colors are created by mixing different metals and chemicals with glass in order to create a desired hue. Introducing these metals and chemicals changes the COE of the glass. The standard boro used by most functional glass artists has an ideal theoretical COE of 33. This fluctuates somewhat in actuality, but generally speaking, it's close enough to avoid causing issues. Some colors deviate enough from the COE of 33 to create stress when mixed with other colors. In some cases it's not enough to create significant problems, in other cases, you simply can't mix some colors as they won't play nice, even after annealing.

In order to check for stress in a finished piece, many flameworkers/glassblowers use a device called a polariscope to help detect the presence of glass strain. By looking through two polarized filters held in varying orientation you can visualize the stress patterns in a piece of glass.

Before annealing (viewed through polariscope)


After annealing (viewed through polariscope)


As you can see, the stress initially mimics the heat pattern used to create the 'T' seal, however after annealing, the stress pattern is gone.

As the above image demonstrates, one of the most significant considerations of more complex rigs is the stress on their various seals and attachments. This means fixed downstems, recycler tubes, inline (and other) percs, glass joints, etc. Essentially every component that is welded in place on the rig. It is important that these components are both welded smoothly when the piece is first built and then properly annealed to release the stress. Chunky, blocky, uneven, or similarly "wonky" seals should be considered cause for concern when examining a rig as they can indicate a potential stress point that may become problematic over extended use.

Ideally, you want rigs that appear to be a single piece of glass: smooth even seals where it is very difficult (or impossible) to tell where one piece of glass ends and the next begins. This is one of the visual indicators available to the naked eye that can help determine the quality of a given piece.

Generally, you get what you pay for. If you are wondering why something is so cheap compared to the rest of the glass it is most likely much worse quality. Although it should still work, it will break much easier.

One thing to look for are american names. Brands generally use higher quality glass than chinese factories. Besides just using worse glass it is also against the law to send out glass with multiples holes in it. It is considered paraphernalia which is a serious charge in china. Instead, these piece are sold as vases and sent out with only the mouth piece open. Once they get to the next stage, they get a hole drilled into the bowl to turn it into a functioning pipe. This process of drilling creates micro fractures in the glass which severely weakens your bowl. This will also cause the glass to shatter when its dropped or hit against something.

You should also check how thick the glass is. The thicker, the better. Although some glass that is not all that thick can be quite strong, this is a good rule of thumb.

JOINT INFORMATION
The next thing you will want to look at is the style and size of the joint. Your rig should have a glass on glass connection. Although most pieces sold will have this, some have rubber adapters. These will not work because they are not capable of being in such high heat and most nails are not compatible with them. Glass on glass joints have a machined piece of sandblasted glass that will fit air tight to another one. Most glass for chemistry will have this same type of joint.

There are 3 common sizes for joints in the smoking world. 10mm, 14.4mm(usually just called 14) and 18.8mm(18 ). These come in both "male" and "female" styles. Male joints fit inside another connector and female joints are ones that get another connector fit inside of it. The size of the joint really does not matter as far as functionality is concerned. There are nails that fit each of these sizes and some that fit all six. The only thing to remember is to check and make sure your nail and rig are compatible.

Most rigs are sold with male connections. This is because titanium expands when it is heated. If you place your nail inside a female joint there is a chance the glass will crack because of the titanium growing. Although I have not personally seen this happen I have never taken the risk. If your piece is female you can always get adapters to change it to male or just extend the joint so that a $10 adapter will break rather than your whole rig. These adapters can also allow you to change sizes. For example if you have a rig with an 18mm joint but have a 10mm nail you can get a 18-10 adapter and fit the nail on this. If people would like more information on adapters I can add that in as well. For now it does not seem to be needed.

PERCOLATION
Just about every single rig you find is going to be a water pipe. You can definitely find dry rigs however they are not nearly as common. Every water pipe has some sort of percolation. Some are very simple, one holed down stems, while others have hundreds of different holes and sometimes three or four separate percolators.These are what make the water bubble and help to cool down the smoke before it reaches your lungs. There are a lot of different opinions as to what percs are the best and what combinations are the best. A lot of this is just personal preference but there are some things to consider.

The first thing to think about is air flow. Some percs have very large openings allowing a lot of air to come through while others are tighter restricting air flow. There are advantages and disadvantages to each.

LESS RESTRICTIVE PERCOLATORS
With larger openings it is harder for the spice to get stuck on the glass and make your hit smaller as well as clog your piece. You will be able to pull at any strength you want because there will be very little drag unless the piece has a lot of water in it. The main problem with these is they make less bubbles than more restrictive pieces so the water cooling is less effective.

PROS: Will not clog, Simpler and easy to clean.
CONS: Not the smoothest hit.

MORE RESTRICTIVE PERCOLATORS
With smaller openings you will get smaller bubbles and more percolation. This will give you a smoother hit. Sadly, these tend to clog up a bit easier and there is a good chance that this could prevent some spice from making it through causing you to waste a small amount.

PROS: Gives a smoother hit.
CONS: May clog easier and collect "reclaim".

These comparisons are very broad as there are literally hundreds of different styles of percolation. To better show what I am talking about and more I am going to give some examples and showcase a few key points.

Open Perc: As you can see this perc consists of several fairly large slits. This will allow a lot of air flow. You can also see that the glass is very thick. This, of course, is good and makes me think this piece is very high quality.
Restricted Perc: This perc is made of a bunch of pieces of broken glass. The holes are much smaller so there is less air flow. It should be smoother. You can also see there is a sturdy base which is very nice and will prevent accidents.

The next thing to consider is if you will want a single perc piece or one with more.

Although I do not want to put in much to any personal bias in this thread, here I have to say how I stand on the subject. More than one perc is extremely unnecessary. It will make the rig harder to clean and will not necessarily make it any smoother. I would really advise against getting something with more than one perc.

If you do decide to get something with two percs, make sure they work well together and don't cause to much drag. If you are buying glass from a store ask to put water in the piece and pull on it. This way you will know if you like it before spending the money.

Those appear to be the key points about a glass rig. Make sure the glass is quality, make sure the joint is going to be compatible with whatever nail you have and finally, put a little thought into the type of percolator the rig has. In doing these three things you should be able to make a more educated purchase. There really is no wrong rig its mostly personal preference.

I would like to say one thing about this section. There seems to have been a fair amount of debate as to whether or not the water will actually filter out DMT. I can neither confirm nor deny this. I would assume a small amount of resin collects on the walls of the glass but this is to be expected. As for a noticeable amount being caught in the rig I can not say. I would love for some trials to be done on this however I am not sure what these trials would consist of. I would just say that if you are worried that much about losing product either do not use water or simply use the smallest amount possible.

There are rigs that cost 20 dollars and there are rigs that cost 20,000 dollars. I like this because if you do want to get some cool glass you can but you can also vaporize on a budget. Just look around and you will eventually find something you like!


The next essential piece of equipment you will need when getting a rig set up is a nail. This is the part that you will heat up and place your spice on. It will be so hot that it will vaporize your product. They have holes in them so that while you are inhaling through the rig the smoke travels through the nail, into the rig and then into your lungs. There are so many different types of nails. You can find them online or at smoke shops.

The first thing to consider when looking at buying a nail is whether you will want a domed nail or a domeless nail. As the name suggests, one of these types requires a dome while the other does not. In general, the ones that require a dome will be smaller and cheaper. You will, however, have to buy the additional glass dome.

Lets take a look at a few pros and cons of each type. I underlined what I believe to be some key points but again I am trying to leave out personal bias.

DOMED NAILS
PROS: Fairly inexpensive, Most come with parts to fit every joint size, Heat up quickly, Dome can protect you from hot nail.
CONS: Need a dome, Harder to place spice on, Dome can break, Cool down quickly.

DOMELESS NAILS
PROS: Easier to place spice on, No need for other parts, Takes a while to cool down.
CONS: Generally more expensive, Take a bit longer to heat up, Dome can not protect you from hot nail.

There are dozens of each type of nail and for the most part it comes down to personal preference. Whichever you choose make sure you are familiar with it before you attempt to use it. Know where to place the spice, how hot to get it and any other things you made need to do for your specific nail.

The next thing you will want to consider when looking for a nail is what material you want it to be made out of. There are four types of nails: Titanium, Quartz, Ceramic and Glass. Because of the nature of glass, if you continuously heat it until its red it is only a matter of time before it will break. These are frequently given out for free with rigs and most head shops either do not sell them or give them away very cheap. Because of the obvious disadvantages I will not go in depth with glass nails. You should know, however, that glass will still work in a pinch but if you are going to be spending money it is truly not worth the investment. Almost all quartz and ceramic nails will be domeless but titanium has lots of domed and domeless designs.

Lets take a more in-depth look at the other types of nails. Note that there a a few different grades for titanium and quartz. I will list the different types in parentheses from worst to best.

TITANIUM (Grade 1, Grade 2 Aero/ Marine, Grade 2 Medical)
PROS: Can not break, Holds heat the longest.
NOTES: When searching for nails you will most likely find that there are a lot of nails in the price range of $30-80. You will also notice that there are some for upwards of $200. These expensive nails are made out of the Grade 2 medical titanium. The main difference is that this titanium is not supposed to oxidize or corrode. The cheaper titanium's have a higher Iron content and are made with more fillers because titanium is so expensive. Although these work just fine, in time you can no doubt see a difference. I am fairly certain that no one sells grade 1 as it is simply not safe to smoke off of. You can find some more information on titanium here.

SEASON YOUR TITANIUM BEFORE YOU USE IT! Almost, if not every, titanium nail comes with a weird coating on it. Although I am not entirely sure what this is, I know it can be harmful to smoke and it tastes AWEFUL (Trust me ). Because of this you will need to season your nail or burn off this coating. There are a few ways to do this but the easiest and cheapest is to get the entire nail glowing red. (When I say nail I mean only the titanium part, not the body of the nail) Once the entire thing is glowing fully submerge it in water. Repeat this four or five times. You will notice a color change and can usually even see some metallic looking stuff floating around in the water. Now your nail is ready to use!

QUARTZ ("Regular", Medical Grade)
PROS: No chance of inhaling anything but spice, Get a better taste.
NOTES: Just like with titanium there is going to be a huge price gap from the regular quartz nails to the Medical grade ones. Most people will not even consider making this jump for valid reasoning. You can get a totally functional domeless quartz nail for under $20. So why would you consider spending well over $100 for one. Well there is a noticeable difference. I have seen probably a dozen regular quartz nails break from simply being heated up too much or bumped by a torch or carb cap. On the other hand, I have seen medical grade quartz nails fall five feet onto concrete and be perfectly fine. I personally have never seen one of these nails break. Of course you could buy several of these other nails before the prices even come close but it is still something to consider especially if you are looking to invest a decent amount of money.

CERAMIC
PROS: Usually inexpensive.
NOTES: These generally break the easiest. Too much heat will cause ceramic to crack. If you are careful and get a decent quality one it will be fine however hardly anyone I know uses these because of the two other options. I mostly like these nails because of the taste but for spice this is hardly a reason to buy a nail.

There are dozens of styles of each of these. I will link a few of each. Some fairly cheap and some will be the top of line nails. These are by no means the only styles and also not necessarily the best.

Domed TI
Domeless TI 1
Domeless TI 2
Domeless Quartz 1
Domeless Quartz 2
Domeless Ceramic

These again are just a few examples and there are tons of nails in between these price points. Hopefully you can now see the big variety in nails. Like rigs, all of them will work fine. It is up to your taste and what you can afford. You should have a few ideas now and as people try different styles we should be able to find a few favorites.


Regardless of the type of rig and nail you get you will need something to get your nail up to temperature so it can vaporize your spice. The most common method of doing this is with a blow torch. These are generally fueled with either propane or butane. I will discuss the differences between these two as well as electronic nails which do not require a torch.

PROPANE
Propane gas is the most inexpensive way to heat your nail. You can get torch heads for under $15 at any hardware store. Refills for propane will only be a couple of dollars and they will allow you to heat your nail a few hundred times. Because of this, propane is a very popular fuel to use. The main drawback is that it can be quite harsh on your nails, especially quartz. It will eat away at them and sometimes cause pieces to flake off. It is generally advised to only use propane if you have a titanium nail however it is not mandatory.

PROS: Very inexpensive, Readily available to everyone.
CONS: Will damage your nail over time, Tanks are generally quite large.

BUTANE
Butane is another readily available and commonly used to heat up nails. In the "dabbing" community for cannabis this is probably the most popular fuel. It is a good bit more friendly to your nails, especially quartz. The flame is more precise and it burns cleaner. The biggest draw back with butane is the price. Not only will the actual torch be more expensive but the refills will be as well. A can of fuel that is twice the price of a can of propane will last maybe half as long. The torches used are essentially creme brulee torches. Some are marketed towards smokers but these are by no means necessary. You can find these a kitchen stores, smoke shops and hardware stores.

PROS: Will cause much less to no damage to your nail (highly recommended for quartz), Small units, Readily available.
CONS: More expensive than propane, Smaller capacity to hold fuel.

ELECTRONIC NAILS
The other way to get your nail hot is what is known as an electronic nail or "e-nail". These are quite expensive and are not for the budget smoker. They are, however, the most precise and generally the most effective. There are a few different types but they all have roughly the same components and do the exact same thing. There is a controller that lets you set an exact heat and turn it on and off. There is a coil that transfers the heat to a metal spool that is wrapped around your nail and heats it up. Keep in mind you will need an e-nail specific nail, but most electronic units come with one.

PROS: Can get an exact temperature, Will allow you to take the lowest temperature hit possible, Greatest consistency.
CONS: Most expensive, Only available at some smoke shops and online.

As a general conclusion to heating elements, basically anything will do as long as it can produce a good amount of heat, at least 3-400 F. (This is another area I think we could do some research on. Exactly how hot do we have to get it. Some trails should be done with an e-nail and as soon as i get the money I will try and do this. If anyone else can help it would be much appreciated!) A propane or butane torch will do just fine. If you want to spend a lot of money and get something really nice you can go with something like an e-nail but it is not necessary and possibly even excessive for most people.

Other Tools

What we have talked about so far are basically the essential tools. You can not really dab with out them. There are, however, a few other tools you will want to consider getting when buying a rig set up.

The first is a dab tool or "dabber". This is the tool you will be using to put your spice onto the nail. Although there are many different brands and designs almost all of them are just fancy. A screw driver will work just fine. Dental picks also work well. The main thing to note is simply that it has to be metal. You do not want to use something that is plastic that will melt on the nail. You would end up inhaling some nasty stuff. Scoopers can work well but make sure to pour the spice out and not let it melt in the spoon. A good amount will pool up and not come out if this happens. If you cant get anything to hold enough try heating up the tip of the tool slightly and rolling it in your product. It should melt it enough to stick to the tool.

Again this is a very simple tool and you should be able to find something around the house you can use if you do not want to spend any money.

Another thing to consider getting is a carb cap. This is a cap to put over your domeless nail after the spice is on it. It allows you to have the nail at a cooler temperature, thus ensuring you will not burn the product. It works the same way putting a lid on a pot of boiling water does. It traps the heat in and helps melt it all. This is by no means a necessary tool however it can be quit helpful.

There, again, are plenty of commercially available caps but there are a lot of options for homemade carb caps as well. The lids to Yankee candles work well, even bottle caps or bottoms of cans will work. Again just make sure it won't melt! You will want it to cover as much of the nail as possible. I will link a few commercially available ones for examples. If you do not want to buy one try finding something that looks like it!



The last thing I want to point out that may be a good thing to consider is a non-slip mat. Something that you can put your glass on and your other tools so they do not slide around is very helpful. A silicone pad will work just fine.

[size=8]Process

[size=5]Now that we have gone over all the tools and equipment you will need to dab we can talk about how to do it!

The process for dabbing is quite simple once you know what you are doing. If you can watch some videos or watch a someone in real life do it first that should really clear up any confusion as well. It is important to understand what is happening and what you will need to do to get all the vapor possible and also stay safe. We will look at a list of steps in numbered order and then go into each one with a bit more detail. It really is quite simple so don't be worried!

1. Prepare your tools
2. Make the dab
3. Heat the nail
4. Ready for launch
5. Inhalation

PREPARE YOUR TOOLS
This is a very basic step. It just requires you to get out everything you need. Fill your rig up with water and make sure it is functioning correctly. Make sure there is fuel in your torch or start heating up your e-nail. Get out your spice and dab tools. You can also take this time to make sure your set and setting are appropriate. Although this is hardly even a step, I point it out to just say that you should prepare everything before you get started. If you like to mediate or have any pre-flight rituals, it may be a good idea to get everything together first as it can be quite distracting otherwise.

MAKE THE DAB
This is another fairly simple step. You have to get a proper amount of spice on your dab tool. This will require you to either weigh or eye-ball out a proper dose. Once you have that you can heat up your tool a little bit and roll it in the spice. The slight heat will make the spice stick to your tool. If you have a scooper you can simply scoop it up. Make sure it will be easy for you to get the spice off of the tool and onto the nail.

HEAT THE NAIL
For this step there are a few things to consider. The first and most obvious is to just be safe with the torch. Make sure nothing is going to...

“How long will this last, this delicious feeling of being alive, of having penetrated the veil which hides beauty and the wonders of celestial vistas? It doesn't matter, as there can be nothing but gratitude for even a glimpse of what exists for those who can become open to it.”
― Alexander Shulgin, Pihkal: A Chemical Love Story

Leithen asked me to share some info on annealing, so here goes a general overview

Annealing is the process of keeping glass hot enough so that the molecules can “straighten out” after being mixed and allowing the strain to release.

Glass is a supercooled liquid. When it is heated to the point at which it becomes molten, its liquid characterstics are obvious. As it cools, it becomes stuck in a solid-like state with no crystallization. Essentially, the viscosity of supercooled liquid rises until it becomes an amorphous solid or glass.

Now, when glass is molten, it's possible to shape it into all kinds of forms, to create all kinds of angles and seals, to weld and fuse various pieces and shapes together. However, as the glass cools, thicker sections cool more slowly than thinner sections. And when glass cools it contracts (when it heats, it expands). So, as you can imagine, when one section of a glass object cools faster than other sections, this means that part of the object is contracting faster than others. This introduces stress into the glass, which can cause "checking" (internal strain points that look like encased cracks), cracking, or shattering.

Annealing is the process of removing the stress introduced into the glass by working it, usually by using a kiln. Essentially, annealing consists of heating a glass object to the point at which the glass becomes evenly hot, just below working temperature, thereby releasing the stress. Once the glass is evenly hot and releases the stress, it is then cooled very gradually, so the the thin and thick sections cool at the same rate and stress is not reintroduced to the glass.

When a piece is properly annealed, there should be minimal stress left in the glass. However, there are some exceptions. Without getting too much into the coefficients of expansion (COE) of different types of glass, there are two particularly relevant points to understand about stress in relation to stress remaining in properly annealed work.

Encased opals should always be considered to be under stress. Despite their popularity, opals (yes, even synthetic opals commonly used) are not truly compatible with borosilicate. Having opals in a piece will cause stress. This does not mean that the piece will break or that it should be considered unusable or prone to cracking, just that there is a higher baseline of stress than the glass would have without the opal(s) in it.

Secondly, some colors are not compatible with other colors (or clear). Colors are created by mixing different metals and chemicals with glass in order to create a desired hue. Introducing these metals and chemicals changes the COE of the glass. The standard boro used by most functional glass artists has an ideal theoretical COE of 33. This fluctuates somewhat in actuality, but generally speaking, it's close enough to avoid causing issues. Some colors deviate enough from the COE of 33 to create stress when mixed with other colors. In some cases it's not enough to create significant problems, in other cases, you simply can't mix some colors as they won't play nice, even after annealing.

In order to check for stress in a finished piece, many flameworkers/glassblowers use a device called a polariscope to help detect the presence of glass strain. By looking through two polarized filters held in varying orientation you can visualize the stress patterns in a piece of glass.

Before annealing (viewed through polariscope)


After annealing (viewed through polariscope)


As you can see, the stress initially mimics the heat pattern used to create the 'T' seal, however after annealing, the stress pattern is gone.

As the above image demonstrates, one of the most significant considerations of more complex rigs is the stress on their various seals and attachments. This means fixed downstems, recycler tubes, inline (and other) percs, glass joints, etc. Essentially every component that is welded in place on the rig. It is important that these components are both welded smoothly when the piece is first built and then properly annealed to release the stress. Chunky, blocky, uneven, or similarly "wonky" seals should be considered cause for concern when examining a rig as they can indicate a potential stress point that may become problematic over extended use.

Ideally, you want rigs that appear to be a single piece of glass: smooth even seals where it is very difficult (or impossible) to tell where one piece of glass ends and the next begins. This is one of the visual indicators available to the naked eye that can help determine the quality of a given piece.

This is getting really long, so I'll stop here for now, but I'm happy to chime in as I can on anything else of relevance.

Thank you VERY much Oneiros!

This is very very helpful information. I will work right away on implementing this into the second draft of the thread! I really appreciate the detail put into the information!

Excellent thread, thanks for all the info

This is really awesome, thanks for your work putting all of this together! I'm not very knowledgeable about glass so this is great info to have.

Very glad to hear that people are finding this helpful!

The second draft is well under way. I appreciate the support.

Great thread!

Terminology

Rig: Can be an ordinary bong (water pipe). Custom bongs sold as dabbing rigs exist (usually with male joint).

Joint: Part of the bong. Outer glas extension sticking out of the bongs body. The joint holds the nail. It can either be male or female. A male joint fits inside a nail, a female joint goes over it. There are 3 universal sizes: 10mm, 14mm, and 18mm. Male joints are better for dabbing. The glass can't break if a hot nail expands.

Percolator: Part of the bong. Inner glass extension of the joint, reaching under water. Has holes for air flow. The number and size of the holes influences the air flow (pull force) and bubble size (temperature drop). There are various types of percs with specific air flow properties.

Nail: The actual dabbing unit which gets heated and holds the extract. The nail is connected to the joint. Nails can be made from glass, quartz, titanium and ceramic. There are domed and domeless nails.

Domed nail: A nail combined with a dome. A domed nail has no holes on top where the oil is. Airflow travels over it, to underneath into a pipe. A glass dome surrounding the nail is placed over it after the nail is heated and dabbed.

Dome: The glass part that is placed over a domed nail. The dome holds the vapor inside. It has a small opening at the top. The opening helps to capture and direct the vapor back down through the pipe when it comes off the nail.

Domeless nail: Open nail without dome mechanism. Has holes on top where the oil is. When inhaling air through the holes, the vapor is sucked in. If the nail cools too much, vapor can escape into the air.

Carb cap: An external cover for a domeless nail. Has holes for air intake. Doesn't let vapor escape in the air, constricts airflow, holds in heat. Usually put on the nail at the last stage when the nail cools. Can be use for low temp dabbing on if the nail is heated less and covered directly. Created the same advantage a domed nail has.

Banger: A banger is a type of domeless nail. Instead of having an open roof with holes round a circle, it's shaped like a small shotglass with a hole at the side.

e-nail: Nails with electric heating. Can also be a normal nail that fits in a separate electric coil with temperature control. Eliminates the need to use a torch. Can be used to accurately set different vaporization points for different materials.

Dabber: The rod used to apply the extract to the nail. Shaped as a long thin screwdriver.

Seasoning: The removing of unwanted polish and coating materials from new nails. Must be done prior first use. The nail is heated and oil is applied. Usually Cannabis oil is used. DMT can be used as well. Nothing is inhaled. Seasoning improves vaping efficiency and taste.

More dabbing info

https://www.dmt-nexus.me...amp;m=416950#post416950
https://www.dmt-nexus.me...&m=418376#post418376

Well, life got in my way and I have been inactive on the site for sometime now. I am starting to get back in the swing of things and curious if anyone was still interested in this? I lost my second draft but would be more than willing to start a new one if people find it useful.

Thanks and happy dabbing!

Sorry for not reading the thread, I really need to go sleeping, but I just want to leave something here:

Regarding Dabbing DMT the ultimate way in my eyes is using a health stone vapor stone

Link 1

Link 2

Which can be placed directly in a 14,4 mm to 18,8 mm glass adapter piece

https://i.ebayimg.com/im...OSwyhVceU8w/s-l1600.jpg

No need for the awful expensive Vapor Stone holder by their manufacturer!

Just place your Spice on top of the Vapor Stone, put your Torch Lighter near the stone and start moving closer, until it melts into the stone. Then start moving it further close and start inhalting, then dont come any closer with the flame when you see vapor starting to form.

Veeeerrryyy smooth and no hot glass involved like the regular Dab setups with a Quartz Banger!

This setup could be also used for 5-MeO and Bufotenine I think, but that has to be tested out.

Thank you for this,
I was already using concentrates when I discovered DMT, and extraxts from acrb always have me a gooy or waxy product, so I quickly put 2 and 2 together.

Very detailed though, great info

@ Brennendes Wasser, that's pretty much my method for vaping spice to a T. I don't have a health stone though, I use a wad of copper scrubbie in a glass pipe. I've had success smoking bho this way also, when I was out of propane and could not heat my nail. I love dabbing cannabis oil, it has been my exclusive method of consuming the plant these last few years, I am grateful and lucky to live where I have that option. Tried dabbing the spice, burned it, I will never forget the taste, I don't think I will try again. Way better results with a pipe and copper scrubbie.

Then go buy the vapor stone, it is basically 100 % the copper scrubbie but just ESPECIALLY MADE FOR THIS!








So it is even better than the copper, trust me it is optimized in a lot of things for this.

- Extremely high porosity

- Inert Material

- Easy fit into glass thing

Especially the 1. point is important as it allows even better temperature control and evaporation. It is so brilliant this thing (No I am not working for that company, I live in Europe and had to pay 15 € shipping tzzzz)

just one point real quick I didn't see it maybe I missed it but with the nature of spice especially xtals using a dab tool can be a pain...I started by folding a playing card in half put the dose on it make more folded playing cards if you plan to do more than 1 hit....simply pick up the card dump on the nail much easier than messing around with a dab tool....I have upgrades from the playing cars now tho I had a thin copper sheet...I cut it into strips and fold its easier in my opinion but hey either one works great

For this other thing you dont need a Dab Tool.

Just make X Portions of your Spice and pre weigh it.

When you are ready for another dose just throw it on top of the vaping stone.

Then you can do the regular procedure. No Handling of stuff altogether. Just weigh it beforehand and throw it on your stone when you are about to do so.

I've read up on these. I like the glass pipes they make for using the stone. Such a setup looks like it would make a great spice pipe. But it's a hundred bucks just for the glass not including stone. I believe I am going to buy a GVG and drop a health stone in there and call it a day! Thanks Brennendes Wasser for the tip.