Hi everybody, this is part of a paper I wrote and published for Italian Forum ESF. Now I've translated it in (a very bad) English and I would like introduce it to you. Maybe it's too much "patriotic", but let me say that italian box mods don't have to be afraid of any comparison. Thank you very much for your attention and, please, tell me what you think about.
This post was published about one year ago, so please, don't be severe with me if I speak about Semovar and Provari. It is just to share with you my passion for box mods and to have your opinion. If somebody of you will like this, I will be happy to share with you the story from then to the present day.
In recent weeks the posts that follow each other on the Forum and the movements of the markets include a great interest for the Box Mods. So far confined in a corner by Provaris and Semovars on one hand and Nemesis and Stingrays on the other hand, the small boxes of wood or other materials are conquering a large scene and a wide popularity.
Without betraying the origins, even faithful fans of mechanic tubes and genesis are finding the box mods; their beauty, the "roundness" of the electronic steam generated by bottom feeder systems, the potential that is inside them.
Accomplices also (and especially) the local modders who have recently proposed a number of projects (unfortunately mostly currently in prototype stage or slow production) which are admired for their beauty. I don’t want mention them one by one in order not to forget some, but their names will be out during the review of the Boxes.
Even the all-Italian birth of some Bottom Feeder Atomizer of excellent quality (here I don’t run the risk of forgetting, I mean the Grail by Paolo Del Sole, The Aria by Roby77 and NoTank by Peppo99 and Bieffe) added valid alternatives to the Chalice, Cyclone, Spiral, etc. and it has encouraged the spread.
Last but not least, the huge proliferation of clones of tubes and atoms, objects of desire for each vaper until now, contributed to decrease love for BBs, now too much confused and mixed together, with a sad loss of identity. The box mod (for now) seems to go untouched by this wretched phenomenon of cloning and fakes, but we'll see how long it will last.
Unlike my previous BB electronic guide (www.svapo.it/forum/modelli-specifici/big...ery-elettronici.html), which many of you know, here I will not consider piece by piece my Box Mods by analyzing them individually. What I hope to be able to do is an "Introduction" to the world of Box Mods, leading the younger (as most recently arrived at electronic steam) to discover an alternate dimension to mechanical and electronic tubes. I apologize to box mods fans already familiar with these systems and especially to boxes’ modders for the inevitable mistakes that will write in the following pages (and also my mistakes in the translation from Italian into English). I hope you can forgive me; you could add all the parts that will be useful to complete this small work devoted to box.
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The question I asked myself and I wanted to put as 3D title reflects my thoughts on the subject: the box is now only a temporal phenomenon linked to a trend destined to run out over time? Or is an object of "hobby into hobby", i.e. a new passion in the world of electronic steam that can overcome the growing supremacy of tubes? Or, more , is a destination, a route from Ego, through electronic and mechanical BB that at last empties into the box? Or maybe could rapresent the real future of electronic steam, with increasingly fanciful objects and art on the one hand and performance on the other? The potential in this sense is more in favour of the box mods.
We begin to talk about it and to scroll through the images. The photographs are mostly original, drawn from my personal collection. For the others is cited the source. I recommend always to click the image for a larger view: often you could find useful or interesting details.
Many of you will recognize box which were owned by them. The market was a real mine of discoveries and surprises. The fact that some objects have been used over time and maybe passed from hand to hand makes them more interesting and “lived”. I thank all those who have sold them to me for the very good conditions when they arrived.
My box parade…. To be continued…
Box Mod
As the name describes, the mod is basically a box made of wood or metal, or more recently in other materials such as carbon fibre, resin, plexiglass or plastic. A simple block, although the inspiration of modders is pushing towards more complex and artistic forms. Can be electronic or mechanical; in the first case only exist inside a battery, the bottle for the fluid and electrical connections, while outside we find the atomizer that communicates through a cup of steel or aluminum with the bottle and the activation button.
Box mod: you recognize top left the inside of the activation button and the metal tube that carries the liquid atomizer; top right the spring that serves as contact to the negative pole of the battery; on the left side the copper wire that carries the positive signal from the positive battery contact (bottom right) to the positive pin of the cup. Pictured on the right with liquid bottle and insert battery.
In the second case there is an electronic circuit that regulates the functions of the energy supply from the battery. It is possible on some models of mechanical box mounting a kick or crown to add the electronic functions features of these devices.
Puzzle Box by Lukkos, Interior view. You will notice at the bottom left of the switch (not included in all versions) that cuts off the current to prevent the Crown (blue item in the upper right corner) to consume the battery during stand-by conditions. At the top right (picture on the left), the metal plate for the contact of the Kick or Crown.
Although there are boxes, mostly electronic, dedicated to be employed with the same atomizers used on tubes, Box Mod has born for the "Bottom Feeder" System
The "Bottom Feeder" System
It's a very simple system: a lower reservoir (flask) made in plastic or silicone connected via a silicone tube at the lower tip of a collector tank made of steel or aluminium. The tank is equipped with an attack that is screwed onto the 510 atomizer. The atom must have "bottom feeder" features, i.e. being drilled through 510 attack to allow the liquid arriving from the flask to reach the steam room. The collector tank is used to drain the excess of liquid that can arrive to the atom and makes it flow out again in the bottle, preventing flooding of vaporization Chamber resulting in unpleasant drinking of liquid or leaking towards our pants.
Feeding of the resistance is supplied by simple finger pressure on the bottle, in a "technical" defined gesture "squonk". The "squonkata", a term that will soon be listed as a neologism on Italian dictionary Zingarelli, is essential in a BF system
The pressure on the bottle must provide to the wick of the atom feed the right amount of liquid. A squonkata too weak will dry quickly, resulting in resistance pulled from a burning taste; a pressure too vigorous will flood the vaporisation Chamber. The right squonkata comes with practice, at the beginning it is not easy to measure the pressure. For this I spoke about "technical action". There are around "Maradonas" of squonkata! But don't let them scare you: some drunk or burn taste, then everything is okay.
The squonkata may not always be equal. The plastic of the flasks did not always have the same strength, so it requires more or less strength collapsing it, also atomizers are not all equal, some are more likely to hold the liquid, others to drop it into the collector tank. Even the tightness of the system is important: bottle stoppers with not perfect closure, or missing o-ring or joints in the silicone tube not watertight could affect power output.
The flasks, round or most recently also square, may have different capacities, depending on the space created for them within the box. The most common include 3, 6 or 10 ml of capacity. It is important that the silicone tube fish well on the bottom of the bottle to get the atom also the last drops of liquid. Recently were offered small metal perforated bottoms which give an excellent performance, but mostly you have just to be sure that the tube has at the lower end a flute beak cut or a couple of facets on the sides to prevent obstruction of the tube against the bottom of the bottle.
Lukkos had also suggested a self-priming mechanism system, the NFS, with the intent to bring the liquid to the atom without resorting to squonk. Personally I've never tried, but the experiences posted on forums doesn't seem exciting.
However the ratio squonk/vape is not 1/1. It is not necessary to press on the bottle at every shot to get best performance. Indeed. Normally a "right" squonk must allow between 4 and 8 vapes before being repeated. At this point it depends from the wick (or cotton or mesh) that we used, to its hygroscopic properties and the system for the collection and flow of liquid into the steam room. Not only that: also the value in ohms of the resistance can change the rate of the pressure. Here the experience helps us, figuring out which one is the last shot before a new squonk.
To perform the manual pressure on the bottle there is on the front cover of almost every box to power BF a porthole that allows you to introduce your thumb or forefinger to touch the bottle and press.
The Squonk
Obvious that the flask must find a "resistance" on the opposite side to that pressure, otherwise the effectiveness of squonk becomes limited. For example, with the Sunbox E7 with magnetic flap also on the back, the pressure on the bottle must not be too forceful, because the bottle could exit out of the other side.
On some box some modder attempted to replace the hole with a button to put pressure on the bottle, but again the results were encouraging but with poor efficacy. Box purists also prefer the feeling of their thumb to the low precision of the button to dispense the perfect squonk.
In a supertechnological world like that in which we live is, we have to smile thinking about a rudimentary and prehistoric mechanism as the squonk is, but it works well, it is simple and cheap, it doesn’t consume energy from the batteries. Big thumbs sometimes don’t fit well in the door, but it's not a big problem. The squonk has its charms though. Now I tried to synthesize (!) but you could write a voluminous Tome "De perfecta squoncata" to leave for posterity ....
All kidding aside, we come now to the part that acts as the container, the body of the Box.
The Box
Basically it is a box, a block with six faces, one of which can be opened to access the inner compartment. The dimensions vary depending on the volume occupied by batteries, by the bottle and by the presence of the electronic circuit. Although, as we shall see, there are now very different shapes of box mods, we start from the most widespread classical configuration: the wooden box.
Can be constructed with 6 strips of wood glued together, carved in a single block of wood, or formed thin stripes of different essences to form different layers of wood then pasted into a single block. The same goal can be reached, however, as we shall see, even with non-wood materials.
Let's examine some of the most famous Box Mods to highlight their features.
LUKKOS PUZZLE BOX
The main feature, which gave its name to this box, is the frame of the front door into the body of the box with the shape of a piece of a puzzle. This constructive solution has allowed not only an excellent door seal on the body, but also pleasing aesthetic variations, mixing different wood essences that make it less monotonous chromatically the front surface of the Box.
In time Lukkos gave polychromatysm to the entire body of the Box adding different colors of wood on the front, on the sides and at the rear until to obtain 4-5-6 layers of different essences but always well mix among them aesthetically. In addition, the production of "special" series in which the author has given free space to his creativity. So “ geometric ", "medieval", "contemporary" limited series had born, to more rare and unique pieces of art with mosaic type inlay or casting process of artistic details dictated by the mood of the moment.
From left: Puzzle Box Special “Virgola”, mechanical mod, “Vintage” mechanical mod, "Icebear" mod with Orion Touch Circuit, Special “Vintage” mechanical mod, Olive/ Ebony mod with Saphira not touch Circuit
url=OVERPIC.net » Image Hosting
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Rear side. Atom Smok RDA modded BF, Atom Grail TA by Del Sole, Atom Giotto, by Yasu, Atom Divo by Vicious Ant
Lately has wanted to put emphasis on the puzzle shape of his Box, giving birth to these unique Box Puzzle.
Photo is from Vecchiemaniere's post on the Forum
I would define Luca as an ebonyst, and especially as unexausthed source of innovative ideas useful to all his colleagues, admirers and imitators, and of course to us, lucky users.
Hopefully for Christmas (I don't know if this year) Luke gives us the ability to use his latest creation/masterpiece: the Gold/DNA30:
Puzzle Box Lukkos Gold DNA30 (prototype). Photo is from Vecchiemaniere's post on the Forum
SVABOX by GiacomoSVA
GiacomoSVA creations are simpler in design, more modern than the Puzzle Box, where the Modder has introduced a new element, certainly appropriate for the construction of the "box": the use of carbon. Also the SVAboxes are today assembled with different wood essences, equalling the polychromy of the Lukkos, but the front door is made of a carbon fiber plate that combines the typical resistance of this material with an extreme lightness and thickness reduction. This leads to the benefit of the containment of the total volume of the box.
SVAbox Carbon DNA20D and mechanical Full Carbon # 05
Little room to artistic details, but for the benefit of a great handiness. Witness the mythical SVA Full Carbon # 5, now unobtainable, 18650 battery, mechanic mod, made entirely of carbon fibre, tiny, light, velvety to the touch, yet almost indestructible.
SVAbox Full Carbon #05
Rear Side. Atom Cyclone by Vicious Ant with dedicated tip and Atom A7
In line with its trend of innovation and experimentation, GiacomoSVA has recently come out with prototypes of acrylic resin Box (Penguin SVAbox) that you can use to create multi-colored Box and with the application of carbon fiber sheets to strengthen wooden front doors to further reduce the thickness. We look forward to early "road tests".
This post was published about one year ago, so please, don't be severe with me if I speak about Semovar and Provari. It is just to share with you my passion for box mods and to have your opinion. If somebody of you will like this, I will be happy to share with you the story from then to the present day.
In recent weeks the posts that follow each other on the Forum and the movements of the markets include a great interest for the Box Mods. So far confined in a corner by Provaris and Semovars on one hand and Nemesis and Stingrays on the other hand, the small boxes of wood or other materials are conquering a large scene and a wide popularity.
Without betraying the origins, even faithful fans of mechanic tubes and genesis are finding the box mods; their beauty, the "roundness" of the electronic steam generated by bottom feeder systems, the potential that is inside them.
Accomplices also (and especially) the local modders who have recently proposed a number of projects (unfortunately mostly currently in prototype stage or slow production) which are admired for their beauty. I don’t want mention them one by one in order not to forget some, but their names will be out during the review of the Boxes.
Even the all-Italian birth of some Bottom Feeder Atomizer of excellent quality (here I don’t run the risk of forgetting, I mean the Grail by Paolo Del Sole, The Aria by Roby77 and NoTank by Peppo99 and Bieffe) added valid alternatives to the Chalice, Cyclone, Spiral, etc. and it has encouraged the spread.
Last but not least, the huge proliferation of clones of tubes and atoms, objects of desire for each vaper until now, contributed to decrease love for BBs, now too much confused and mixed together, with a sad loss of identity. The box mod (for now) seems to go untouched by this wretched phenomenon of cloning and fakes, but we'll see how long it will last.
Unlike my previous BB electronic guide (www.svapo.it/forum/modelli-specifici/big...ery-elettronici.html), which many of you know, here I will not consider piece by piece my Box Mods by analyzing them individually. What I hope to be able to do is an "Introduction" to the world of Box Mods, leading the younger (as most recently arrived at electronic steam) to discover an alternate dimension to mechanical and electronic tubes. I apologize to box mods fans already familiar with these systems and especially to boxes’ modders for the inevitable mistakes that will write in the following pages (and also my mistakes in the translation from Italian into English). I hope you can forgive me; you could add all the parts that will be useful to complete this small work devoted to box.
[/url[/U]]The question I asked myself and I wanted to put as 3D title reflects my thoughts on the subject: the box is now only a temporal phenomenon linked to a trend destined to run out over time? Or is an object of "hobby into hobby", i.e. a new passion in the world of electronic steam that can overcome the growing supremacy of tubes? Or, more , is a destination, a route from Ego, through electronic and mechanical BB that at last empties into the box? Or maybe could rapresent the real future of electronic steam, with increasingly fanciful objects and art on the one hand and performance on the other? The potential in this sense is more in favour of the box mods.
We begin to talk about it and to scroll through the images. The photographs are mostly original, drawn from my personal collection. For the others is cited the source. I recommend always to click the image for a larger view: often you could find useful or interesting details.
Many of you will recognize box which were owned by them. The market was a real mine of discoveries and surprises. The fact that some objects have been used over time and maybe passed from hand to hand makes them more interesting and “lived”. I thank all those who have sold them to me for the very good conditions when they arrived.
My box parade…. To be continued…
Box Mod
As the name describes, the mod is basically a box made of wood or metal, or more recently in other materials such as carbon fibre, resin, plexiglass or plastic. A simple block, although the inspiration of modders is pushing towards more complex and artistic forms. Can be electronic or mechanical; in the first case only exist inside a battery, the bottle for the fluid and electrical connections, while outside we find the atomizer that communicates through a cup of steel or aluminum with the bottle and the activation button.
Box mod: you recognize top left the inside of the activation button and the metal tube that carries the liquid atomizer; top right the spring that serves as contact to the negative pole of the battery; on the left side the copper wire that carries the positive signal from the positive battery contact (bottom right) to the positive pin of the cup. Pictured on the right with liquid bottle and insert battery.
In the second case there is an electronic circuit that regulates the functions of the energy supply from the battery. It is possible on some models of mechanical box mounting a kick or crown to add the electronic functions features of these devices.
Puzzle Box by Lukkos, Interior view. You will notice at the bottom left of the switch (not included in all versions) that cuts off the current to prevent the Crown (blue item in the upper right corner) to consume the battery during stand-by conditions. At the top right (picture on the left), the metal plate for the contact of the Kick or Crown.
Although there are boxes, mostly electronic, dedicated to be employed with the same atomizers used on tubes, Box Mod has born for the "Bottom Feeder" System
The "Bottom Feeder" System
It's a very simple system: a lower reservoir (flask) made in plastic or silicone connected via a silicone tube at the lower tip of a collector tank made of steel or aluminium. The tank is equipped with an attack that is screwed onto the 510 atomizer. The atom must have "bottom feeder" features, i.e. being drilled through 510 attack to allow the liquid arriving from the flask to reach the steam room. The collector tank is used to drain the excess of liquid that can arrive to the atom and makes it flow out again in the bottle, preventing flooding of vaporization Chamber resulting in unpleasant drinking of liquid or leaking towards our pants.
Feeding of the resistance is supplied by simple finger pressure on the bottle, in a "technical" defined gesture "squonk". The "squonkata", a term that will soon be listed as a neologism on Italian dictionary Zingarelli, is essential in a BF system
The pressure on the bottle must provide to the wick of the atom feed the right amount of liquid. A squonkata too weak will dry quickly, resulting in resistance pulled from a burning taste; a pressure too vigorous will flood the vaporisation Chamber. The right squonkata comes with practice, at the beginning it is not easy to measure the pressure. For this I spoke about "technical action". There are around "Maradonas" of squonkata! But don't let them scare you: some drunk or burn taste, then everything is okay.
The squonkata may not always be equal. The plastic of the flasks did not always have the same strength, so it requires more or less strength collapsing it, also atomizers are not all equal, some are more likely to hold the liquid, others to drop it into the collector tank. Even the tightness of the system is important: bottle stoppers with not perfect closure, or missing o-ring or joints in the silicone tube not watertight could affect power output.
The flasks, round or most recently also square, may have different capacities, depending on the space created for them within the box. The most common include 3, 6 or 10 ml of capacity. It is important that the silicone tube fish well on the bottom of the bottle to get the atom also the last drops of liquid. Recently were offered small metal perforated bottoms which give an excellent performance, but mostly you have just to be sure that the tube has at the lower end a flute beak cut or a couple of facets on the sides to prevent obstruction of the tube against the bottom of the bottle.
Lukkos had also suggested a self-priming mechanism system, the NFS, with the intent to bring the liquid to the atom without resorting to squonk. Personally I've never tried, but the experiences posted on forums doesn't seem exciting.
However the ratio squonk/vape is not 1/1. It is not necessary to press on the bottle at every shot to get best performance. Indeed. Normally a "right" squonk must allow between 4 and 8 vapes before being repeated. At this point it depends from the wick (or cotton or mesh) that we used, to its hygroscopic properties and the system for the collection and flow of liquid into the steam room. Not only that: also the value in ohms of the resistance can change the rate of the pressure. Here the experience helps us, figuring out which one is the last shot before a new squonk.
To perform the manual pressure on the bottle there is on the front cover of almost every box to power BF a porthole that allows you to introduce your thumb or forefinger to touch the bottle and press.
The Squonk
Obvious that the flask must find a "resistance" on the opposite side to that pressure, otherwise the effectiveness of squonk becomes limited. For example, with the Sunbox E7 with magnetic flap also on the back, the pressure on the bottle must not be too forceful, because the bottle could exit out of the other side.
On some box some modder attempted to replace the hole with a button to put pressure on the bottle, but again the results were encouraging but with poor efficacy. Box purists also prefer the feeling of their thumb to the low precision of the button to dispense the perfect squonk.
In a supertechnological world like that in which we live is, we have to smile thinking about a rudimentary and prehistoric mechanism as the squonk is, but it works well, it is simple and cheap, it doesn’t consume energy from the batteries. Big thumbs sometimes don’t fit well in the door, but it's not a big problem. The squonk has its charms though. Now I tried to synthesize (!) but you could write a voluminous Tome "De perfecta squoncata" to leave for posterity ....
All kidding aside, we come now to the part that acts as the container, the body of the Box.
The Box
Basically it is a box, a block with six faces, one of which can be opened to access the inner compartment. The dimensions vary depending on the volume occupied by batteries, by the bottle and by the presence of the electronic circuit. Although, as we shall see, there are now very different shapes of box mods, we start from the most widespread classical configuration: the wooden box.
Can be constructed with 6 strips of wood glued together, carved in a single block of wood, or formed thin stripes of different essences to form different layers of wood then pasted into a single block. The same goal can be reached, however, as we shall see, even with non-wood materials.
Let's examine some of the most famous Box Mods to highlight their features.
LUKKOS PUZZLE BOX
The main feature, which gave its name to this box, is the frame of the front door into the body of the box with the shape of a piece of a puzzle. This constructive solution has allowed not only an excellent door seal on the body, but also pleasing aesthetic variations, mixing different wood essences that make it less monotonous chromatically the front surface of the Box.
In time Lukkos gave polychromatysm to the entire body of the Box adding different colors of wood on the front, on the sides and at the rear until to obtain 4-5-6 layers of different essences but always well mix among them aesthetically. In addition, the production of "special" series in which the author has given free space to his creativity. So “ geometric ", "medieval", "contemporary" limited series had born, to more rare and unique pieces of art with mosaic type inlay or casting process of artistic details dictated by the mood of the moment.
From left: Puzzle Box Special “Virgola”, mechanical mod, “Vintage” mechanical mod, "Icebear" mod with Orion Touch Circuit, Special “Vintage” mechanical mod, Olive/ Ebony mod with Saphira not touch Circuit
url=OVERPIC.net » Image Hosting
Rear side. Atom Smok RDA modded BF, Atom Grail TA by Del Sole, Atom Giotto, by Yasu, Atom Divo by Vicious Ant
Lately has wanted to put emphasis on the puzzle shape of his Box, giving birth to these unique Box Puzzle.
Photo is from Vecchiemaniere's post on the Forum
I would define Luca as an ebonyst, and especially as unexausthed source of innovative ideas useful to all his colleagues, admirers and imitators, and of course to us, lucky users.
Hopefully for Christmas (I don't know if this year) Luke gives us the ability to use his latest creation/masterpiece: the Gold/DNA30:
Puzzle Box Lukkos Gold DNA30 (prototype). Photo is from Vecchiemaniere's post on the Forum
SVABOX by GiacomoSVA
GiacomoSVA creations are simpler in design, more modern than the Puzzle Box, where the Modder has introduced a new element, certainly appropriate for the construction of the "box": the use of carbon. Also the SVAboxes are today assembled with different wood essences, equalling the polychromy of the Lukkos, but the front door is made of a carbon fiber plate that combines the typical resistance of this material with an extreme lightness and thickness reduction. This leads to the benefit of the containment of the total volume of the box.
SVAbox Carbon DNA20D and mechanical Full Carbon # 05
Little room to artistic details, but for the benefit of a great handiness. Witness the mythical SVA Full Carbon # 5, now unobtainable, 18650 battery, mechanic mod, made entirely of carbon fibre, tiny, light, velvety to the touch, yet almost indestructible.
SVAbox Full Carbon #05
Rear Side. Atom Cyclone by Vicious Ant with dedicated tip and Atom A7
In line with its trend of innovation and experimentation, GiacomoSVA has recently come out with prototypes of acrylic resin Box (Penguin SVAbox) that you can use to create multi-colored Box and with the application of carbon fiber sheets to strengthen wooden front doors to further reduce the thickness. We look forward to early "road tests".
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