Compatible Oils and Making Blends

Decarbing Non-Distillates

This is basically any type of concentrate that has a different texture than what you'd normally find in a cart, this is the easiest way to explain it as there are dozens of names for each type and will be referred to as "oil" in the following guides. In order to to get a consistency that is easily wickable by the coils the oil needs to be decarbed which turns it into a similar consistency to D9 Distillate. There are some oils sold in a syringe that will often say "cart ready" or decarbed on the packaging, which obviously means this step has already been done.

Classic Oven Method

One of the most common methods for decarbing is using your home oven, though a toaster oven can sometimes have more consistent temperatures (abbreviated to temp).  This guide uses info from HashTek, their site has a video timelapse (warning: flashing lights) and pictures for each step of the process. 

Required equipment: oven/toaster oven, a clear sealable heat resistant jar, and an oven-safe temperature probe (for measuring ambient temp, NOT for probing food)

1. Put your desired oil into a heat resistant jar, try not to fill it more than 75% full as it will expand during the process. If you're using rosin or a high purity resin then you should be okay to seal it but if you're using unknown quality oils like BHO then you may want to loosely place the lid on without sealing so any excess solvents can evaporate out (though you may also lose some terps). 
2. Set your oven to the lowest temp it can go and use the temp probe to adjust up as needed until you reach 220F (105C), lower temps are better for preserving terps but will make it take longer. If you've never checked your oven's temp accuracy then keep an eye on the probe for atleast 30 minutes once it gets up to temp to ensure consistency. You'll want to put the probe in the spot that you plan to put the jar for the best accuracy.
3. Place your jar of oil in the oven once it's up to temp, it's easiest to put it on a baking sheet first so it has a flat surface that can easily be grabbed with an oven mitt.
4. Now you wait, the decarbing process can take anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours depending on the temperature used, for 220F it should take about 30 minutes. 
5. Once the oil is no longer bubbling and is transparent that means it's fully decarbed and ready to use. Partial decarbs can work for carts but for these bigger devices a full decarb will be more consistent. Let the jar cool to room temperature before opening to ensure the terpenes aren't in gas form when opening which would evaporate.
6. Now you can follow the guide for filling your devices, if your oil doesn't have a consistent color then stir it up to make sure all the cannabinoids are well mixed. Once you're done using it then store it in a cool & dark place to preserve it's potency, if using rosin or high quality resin then store in a fridge.
   
   

Sous Vide/Water Bath Method

This method takes much longer than the oven method but can use significantly lower temperatures to minimize any potential terpene loss. This guide uses info from a Reddit post by u/Zolabola1 who uses this exact method for their TFV9 with the 0.5ohm GT Ccell and hash rosin. A Sous Vide machine will be the most consistent temperature wise but a traditional water bath can also work if you have a heat source that will go low enough to keep the water at least 160F (71C) for 36-48 hours, going higher increases the chance of terpene degradation but speeds up the process. Also many Sous Vides have an auto shut off after 12-24 hours so you'll have to turn it back on, it shouldn't cause any issues with the machine since it's a fairly low temp.

Required equipment: a clear sealable heat resistant jar, vacuum sealer with bags, either a Sous Vide machine and a heat resistant bowl/pot for water or an oven-safe temperature probe, a pot for water, and a continuous heating source like a stove or hot plate

1. Put your desired oil into a heat resistant jar, try not to fill it more than 75% full as it will expand during the process. For this method the only option is to seal the jar so I would only use high purity oils for this, otherwise any leftover solvents will stay in the oil and give it a funky taste. 
2. Place the sealed jar into a vacuum seal bag and vacuum out all of the air. Next fill a bowl/pot with water, you only need enough to submerge the jar but it will evaporate over time so you'll likely want to use a lot of water to minimize refills.
3. Bring your water up to 160F (71C), going any lower will take significantly longer than it already does. Once at that temp place your jar in a bag into the water and use something heavy on top to make sure the jar doesn't float.
4. Put saran wrap on top of the bowl/pot to prevent some evaporation, saran wrap doesn't melt until 220F (105C) so there's no risk of that as long as your water isn't boiling. Make sure to check the water level every 6-12 hours, if it gets below the lid of the jar then refill with more water. There was a user on Reddit who claimed you can use vegetable oil instead as that will not evaporate when heated, but obviously the bag will be very oily and need to be cleaned off before being opened.
5. Now you wait... a very long time. After 24 hours you can take the jar out of the water (keep it in the bag) then shake it around a bit to agitate the oil and make sure it's evenly heating, it won't look like much has happened because of how slow this process is at this temp. You should start to see some bubbling around 32-36 hours and all bubbling should be gone by 48 hours. After 36 hours you should check the jar every 1-2 hours to check it's progress.
6. Once the oil is no longer bubbling and is transparent that means it's fully decarbed and ready to use. Partial decarbs can work for carts but for these bigger devices a full decarb will be more consistent. Let the jar cool to room temperature before opening to ensure the terpenes aren't in gas form when opening which would evaporate.
7. Cut open the vacuum bag and retrieve your jar of decarbed oil.
8. Now you can follow the guide for filling your devices, if your oil doesn't have a consistent color then stir it up to make sure all the cannabinoids are well mixed. Once you're done using it then store it in a cool & dark place to preserve it's potency, if using rosin or high quality resin then store in a fridge.

Adding Terpenes

Whether you're using raw distillate or adding extra terpenes (abbreviated to terps) to a weak batch of oil, the process is the same. The recommended amount for BDT is 3-5% and CDT/HDT is 5-8%, going any higher can cause the oil to be harsh or overwhelmingly flavorful.

Start Small

If you're terping your own oil for the first time then it's good to start small so that you have extra oil in case you do the math wrong or you get extra strong terps, though that does require some more math if you want to know exactly what percentage you're using to replicate it. I think 10ml/g (milliliters and grams are nearly equivalent for most oils) is a good starting amount as the math is easier. If using less than 5ml/g then I'd recommending weighing everything and using grams for the calculations as precision is easier with an accurate scale than it is with a small syringe or pipette, just make sure to tare the scale for your equipment.

The Math

I will show a BDT and CDT example for the math to get 10ml of terped oil. BDT: 10 x 5% = 0.5, so you'd need 9.5ml of your oil and 0.5ml of your terps, doubling it may be easier if you don't want to measure the terps (most come in 1ml bottles). CDT: 10 x 8% = 0.8, so you'd need 9.2ml of your oil and 0.8ml of your terps, or if you wanted to use the full 1ml you'd need 11.5ml of your oil instead. If adding extra terps to an already terped product, the math will be harder to estimate.

The Technique

I personally use ml for all measurements as I normally mix 20ml at a time, but if you're using grams and a scale then it's the same steps. You will need the same tools as what's needed for filling devices found HERE [ADD LINK}

1. Use a heating source to warm up your oil, you want it to be as thin as it can be so let it fully melt before adding anything.
2. Measure your terps for the percentage that you want and add it to your oil once it's fully melted.
3. Stir your oil until everything is well mixed. I normally stir for about 5 minutes in varying motions to make sure everything is consistently mixed. This is one of the reasons that a stirring hot plate is a great investment!
4. That's it! Now you can fill up your desired device and it should wick perfectly (assuming you used at least 5%). 

A Cheaper Terpene Alternative: PG

This is the same PG that these vapes are normally used with, except you need pure PG as the VG that's in normal vape juice does not like to bind with oils. If you're not already using a nicotine vape then use at your own risk, so far there's no evidence that PG is harmful but there's less than 20 years of research about the safety of inhalation. If you are using a nicotine vape then this should be perfectly fine since you're already inhaling PG any time you hit your vape. Another benefit of PG is it helps to homogenize cannabinoids like CBD, CBG, or CBN that tend to crystalize at higher ratios which can prevent that crystallization from happening. I need to do more testing to find exactly how much it can handle before crystallization occurs.

How Much Cheaper? $0.20/ml vs $5+/ml!

Yes you read that correctly, flavored PG can be gotten for just 20¢/ml vs the $5+/ml that BDT terps are or $10+/ml that CBC or CDT terps are. This price isn't including shipping or taxes but that's not normally used in these kinds of calculations since it can vary by location. This price is calculated using an apple flavoring from Bull City Flavors (highly reputable company) in the 30ml size, though some flavors are available for that price in the 10ml size as well. There is also unflavored PG if you'd like to use a small amount of terps or don't want any flavoring, places like Central Vapors sell 250ml for $11 which is about 5¢/ml.

What's The Catch?

There is no entourage effect that many terpenes provide, but many people don't even notice them or care about them anyhow. Also it's not a huge deal but the math isn't as consistent, many vape flavorings have varying strengths, some may need 20% flavor concentrate for good flavor strength while others only need 5%. The nice thing is since it's so cheap that's not too big of a deal and the individual flavors are consistent so once you find some good flavors you'd just need to write down the percentages used for each flavor.

How It Works

The process is similar to adding terpenes but you add the PG in increments to find the ideal amount for each flavor. Because of this it is good to have a small capacity device like a TFV9 Mini or a cartridge, an even easier option is to just use a dab rig since you can test with that as you go instead of filling and dumping tanks until you find a good percentage. It does take a bit more mixing effort to get the PG to fully bind with the oil, a stirring hot plate is highly recommended to make sure it's rigorously mixed, though it is not required if you don't mind mixing by hand for 10-15 minutes or have some type of electric mixer.

Bonus: Far More Device Compatibility

If you use about 25% PG (you'll probably want a mix of flavored and unflavored) the oil should only be slightly thicker than normal 70VG/30PG vape juice, almost like 85VG/15PG vape juice. This means that you can use it with just about any sub-ohm coil (anything 0.8ohms or lower), it doesn't matter if it's mesh since it's thin enough to wick as it's being vaporized like normal vape juice. This greatly expands the potential of this use as it's virtually indistinguishable from a normal nicotine vape, not even the thickness is a giveaway, pretty much the only ways you can tell is by hitting it and receiving it's effects or using a drug test on it. That also means you need to make sure you label the bottle it's in so you don't accidently use it thinking it's regular vape juice.

Making Blends

Blends are a mix of additional cannabinoids to change the effects when used, many D8 and HHC vendors offer their own blends but you can make them yourself for significantly cheaper most of the time. Many vendors even have the exact percentages of cannabinoids in the lab tests that you can replicate yourself, this is especially useful for discontinued blends. This is most often done with distillate but could be done with any type of oil.

Start Simple

It's easiest to start with simple percentages like 5% and 10% increments, the only thing this should not be used for is THC-P or HHC-P as those are extremely strong and should be used in 1-2% increments instead. Start with just mixing 2 or 3 cannabinoids so you can learn how they affect you, remember that cannabinoids affect everyone differently so one person's blend may not feel the same for you as it does for them. Isolates are easiest measured in grams then melted down and mixed into distillate, but try not to go above 25-30% isolates as they can crash out after being melted and recrystallize. If they do crash out while in a tank/pod then you can just warm it up with something like a hairdryer and it'll melt back down. Another option instead of isolates is Crystal Resistant Distillate (CRD) which is a combination of minor cannabinoids that can be used with other isolates without crashing out, which is a good way to make a non-psychoactive blend.

Getting Advanced

Once you have an idea of what the effects of each cannabinoid are (or if you don't care and just want to experiment), you can start trying precise percentages, you might be surprised how much of a difference there is using 2-3% less of one cannabinoid and 6-8% more of another. It is extremely useful to keep a log of your blends, whether that's a piece of paper or a Google Doc/Sheet, it'll be very helpful for recreating a great blend and sharing with others. A nice thing to have for this is a label maker so you can make custom labels for your blends to easily distinguish them.

An Example Of Making A Blend

I know this section didn't really have much of a "tutorial" but that's because this is a very preferential thing, it's basically the same thing as adding terpenes except you're adding isolates or other distillates. This example is a basic one for people who don't like to use terpenes: A 10ml total mix of 60% D8 + 30% HHC + 10% CBC would be 6ml D8, 3ml HHC, and 1ml of CBC. The 10% CBC acts as a thinner instead of terpenes, many people have luck with as little as 5% CBC but it may not even be required with some isolates like CBG that becomes very thin when melted. Here's another example with 1 base oil and no CBC: A 10ml total mix of 70% D8 + 15% CBG + 15% CBN would be 7g D8, 1.5g CBG, and 1.5g CBN. Notice I used grams instead of ml as isolates are easier to measure when they're in their solid form, 7ml of distillate would also be acceptable but for the best precision it'd be best to weigh that instead. This mix would be a bit thinner than the first one since HHC is pretty thick plus 30% isolates is pretty high and results in more thinning than 10% CBC does.