Base-wall Thickness? Vacuum Hookah? Fabricated Hookah?

[wongxiao]

Okay, so I'd definitely like to make my own hookah. That's actually how I found this place, lol....


Anyway, I don't have access to a glassblowing studio, but I know that it can be done with glass tubing and a blowtorch. However, this method is more often than not used primarily in scientific applications--ie, manufacture of custom test tubes, flasks, light bulbs, et cetera.

(Wall-Thickness Dilemma)
Likewise, the tubing available is somewhat thin. The heaviest wall-thickness I can get is around 9mm, and that's for maybe an inch or two total outer diameter, which means it'll probably land at around two or 3 (at BEST) millimeters for the final wall thickness once I've blown it out into an actual hookah base. Will this be strong enough? If I do it, I'll be using laboratory-grade borosilicate (aka Pyrex) tubing, so it's good glass.. I just think it's maybe too thin? Does anyone know the wall-thickness of their base?


(Vacuum Idea)
I was also thinking it would be nice to blow a double-wall base out of glass, suck all the air out with a pump, and then seal it off. This way, the inner glass that contains the water would be surrounded by a vacuum, and then another layer of glass. This would drastically reduce the thermal conductivity of the base--I have a set of drinking glasses that are made in similar fashion, and my drinks stay hot or cold WAY longer, and that's with an open top... I'm thinking you could have the temperature of the system barely decrease for an entire smoking session (and a LOOONG one at that!).


(Fabrication Idea)
Conversely, I was considering using CAD software to draft a 3D model of my base and stem, and send them to a machine shop to have them fabricated. I would fabricate the base from polycarbonate.. I was iffy about the idea at first, but seeing as how Myas are fabricated from plexiglass (acrylic), I think it should be okay. Polycarbonate has much higher impact strength, however; it's used in prescription glasses and riot shields (and a whole lot of other stuff), and also has excellent thermal properties. In other words, I could probably drop a polycarbonate base from my roof with minimal damage, and it should maintain the coldness of the water pretty well. I would fabricate the stem from either stainless steel or brass (which do you think is better?).



I really want to make a hookah. The thing with the glass is that I'd definitely want to make a vacuum wall, and the artistic nature of the hookah is just as important to me as how well it hits. I've never blown glass before in my life, so it would be a learning process. Artistically, I would just improvise, and I'm confident that I could make something nice doing so... but, I would be going into uncharted territory.

Now, I'm already experienced with 3D modeling, so the fabrication idea will work for sure. I also know I'll be able to easily standardize parts. The catch is that I'm looking at a base cost of $150 for the machine shop to do the product. Plus the cost of production. I can make the unit cost go down by ordering more copies, but... I'd have to sell them. Feasible? What do you think? I'd probably have to set aside at least $300 for the project in any case, but if I do this I'm about 70% certain I'll be able to make a hookah that hits amazingly--machine shops fabricate parts to very minimal tolerances, so I could precisely "build-in" the type of airflow I want.


So.. what would YOU do? (remember, artistic quality is just as important to hit quality to me!)


EDIT: real quick, do you guys think that a thread-on or grommet stem is better? Edited June 24, 2008 by wongxiao

[hday]

The vacuum idea is pretty neat, but blowing glass is HARD. Even if you had all of the equipment, it would still take a long time to get it right. You're probably better off paying a glass blower to do it for you. Making a CAD drawing of a stem would be cool, not sure about using it as a method for making a vase. Not so sure about the polycarbonate.

I like grommet stems. No real reason of than aesthetics. If the vase ever broke a grommet stem could be placed on another vase.

[pigpen]

The trouble with a blow torch is that you have to maintain even temperature all over the glass as it is worked. If you dont you will end up with weak spots that could shatter.
An alternative to a blow torch might be a small kiln used for glass fusing. They are available from Hobby Lobby and other stores. The advantage of even heat is obvious. The disadvantage is that the kilns are small and this would limit the size of vase you could create.
Do you have any glass blowers in your area?
You might be able to bargain some lessons by cleaning up the shop (for free of course) I know a man who did this. He worked for free for a year before they put him on any glass - but today he has his own shop and makes money in glass.
The point is just to learn what you can - even if you are only in the shop for 1 day you will learn more than you ever can just "googleing" it.

[wongxiao]

Yeah, improper annealing is the number one thing that's frightening me about doing glass. It would absolutely suck if the thing just randomly broke as it was cooling, or worse, as I was smoking! D:

I friend of mine says that there's a glass shop here in Reno (Google revealed nothing), so I might hit that up. Summer classes don't really give me enough time for that option, but it definitely is an appealing suggestion. I'm actually taking on a different design, but I will ask them if they can twist a length of borosilicate into a coil.

For the base, the same guy also may have access to a lathe, so I'll see if I can just lathe it out of aluminum or steel in two separate parts, an outer wall and inner wall. The way I figure, lab grade dewar flasks keep stuff cold almost indefinitely, consumer grade thermoses keep stuff cold for 24 hours, so just a layer of air should be able to keep this thing cold for at least an hour. At any rate, I'm sure it will keep it colder than a normal glass base. I'll see about posting some schematics soon.



Now if I could just get my hands on one of those double-dewar flasks that store liquid helium which they use in MRI machines.... ah well, the difference prolly wouldn't be noticeable anyway from a normal dewar...