All You Need to Know About Bong Making

by Ich

The Rationale

The first question that most non-smokers ask is why. There are a variety of reasons you can give. For one, it's easier to hold in the smoke, because it's been cooled. Passing through even small amounts of water make smoke much easier on your lungs. Secondly, it helps remove some of the damaging tiny particulate matter from the smoke, while leaving the non-water soluble vapors from the THC intact. You do not lose THC to the water, only the yucky and carcinogenic chemicals that are given off by most plenty of things when they burn. Thirdly, it helps conserve your marijuana compared to a joint. If you have a bowl you can cover to further slow the rate of combustion in between hits, that's even better. Fourthly, you can sometimes take a second hit off a bong without sparking the bowl again, provided there is a large enough chamber between the water and mouthpiece. Most importantly, when the smoke isn't as harsh, you can hold in more smoke longer, and get higher.

The Abstract

A bong functions by having a large bottle filled with a few centimeters of water, and a pipe coming through the side of the bottle, ending beneath the surface of the water. When you inhale on the top of the bottle, the pressure decreases enough to draw air in through the pipe, which then bubbles up through the water, and into your lungs. If the air drawn through the pipe is marijuana smoke, then you get high, the primary objective.

Where to get one

Now that you understand the importance of using a bong, the next question is generally where you can get one. There are street vendors and head shops selling quality ones made out of blown glass, and those are great. They're also expensive and break if you drop them. Both these things are unfortunate, and while the best bong you'll ever have would come from a glassblower, the cash you'd spend on a nice one could be better spent on pot or food or rent. This leaves us at either choices of theft, or making one at home. There are, no doubt, plenty of places you can find guides to stealing. I do not condone illegal activity (except smoking pot, but that's different) so I'll tell you how to make your own bong.

Making a Bong

First off, get a bottle. My first one was a large--maybe 1 and a half liter--Arizona Iced Tea bottle. I chose it because it had semi-rigid sides, so when you sucked on the top, the walls wouldn't collapse. I feel this is the most important characteristic for the bong, choosing a bottle that won't deform as a result of lower pressure inside.

Secondly, find a section of piping. I've found the diameter of a Bic pen will work nicely. Check your basement, or your the basement at a friend's house. If any of their parents know how to do plumbing, you can usually find something. You won't even need more than six to eight inches. I don't recommend a bic pen, because you're inhaling burning gases through it. Fumes from burning plastic are probably pretty bad for you, and the goal here is healthier smoke.

Thirdly, buy, steal, or make a bowl. Usually, if you can go to a store with plumbing supplies you can find something that will make a decent bowl with little modification. The primary objective is to make somewhere you can hold your pot while it burns, and inhale through. All it needs to be is about the diameter of a small coin and about a centimeter or two deep (less than an inch). You'll need a screen so the pot will not fall through your tubing into the water. If you can get a piece of screen from somewhere around your house, that'd work great. Check your friends' houses too.

If you can't find any screening, don't despair; you can easily make a screen yourself. Simply cut off the top and bottom of a soda can, and cut along the side, so you have a pretty decent sized flat strip of aluminum. Cut out a large circle, and get a small piece of regular corrugated cardboard. Place the aluminum on top of it, and put it above a hard surface. Use the nail to puncture small holes in it.

If you just need a screen, cut away the superfluous sections, if not, concentrate all your holes into a circular area--about the size of a nickel--in the middle of your larger circle. If you need a bowl as well as a screen, you can combine thw two. Fold the sides up and you have a bowl with a built in screen in the bottom.

The next step is making sure when air is drawn in through the pipe, that it is only air that has passed over the burning dope. There are a few ways to accomplish this, however I feel the best way involves making a cone of aluminum. Make a cone out of aluminum with the large end being the diameter of your bowl, and the point of the cone end with a hole that just barely fits your pipe. Place your bowl on top of the upside-down cone, and seal it. It may help to have the same slope on the sides of the cone and the slope at which the sides of your bowl extend outwards.

What I recommend for sealing is a silicone sealant, hot glue, or electrical tape, because that seems to work the best. Seal the bowl atop the cone, and seal the place where the pipe enters the cone. I generally use electrical or duct tape to keep it all together.

Now, puncture a hole about halfway up the bottle where the pipe shall enter. Obviously, this should be just large enough to fit the pipe. There are two ways to do this. The first is using a sharp object. The less boring way is by heating up a section of piping of the same diameter to the point where it can pass through the plastic, which requires about five to ten seconds in a blowtorch flame. This will make a hole of the exact diameter, but withdraw it immediately after making the hole, and allow the plastic and metal to cool. If you're feeling adventurous enough, you can try having the plastic melt to seal the bottle. This is, of course, a bad idea as well as being prone to failure, although it is still possible.

The last step is to put the pipe with the bowl on the end through the hole and sealing it (chewing gum works, but I'd put a piece of tape over the gum so you don't accidentally grab hold of it where the gum is and get your fingers stickied up). Fill it up with enough water that you can inhale through the top without water splashing into your mouth. Try a few hits with an empty bowl first, to make sure you won't suck up any of the bong water.

Conclusion

You now have in your hands a more or less functioning bong. If air leaks either at the bowl or at the point where the pipe enters the bottle, you're not going to get as good of hits. Using ice water in your bong will cool the smoke more, although impurities in the smoke are not as soluble at lower temperatures. THC is not soluble in water, and I don't recommend putting any other beverages (beer, coke, kool aid, etc.) into your bong. A final note about smoking for the inexperienced: your bong will reek of pot after you use it so make sure you stash it somewhere the smell won't matter, or inside of a plastic trash bag. Or, if you've got plenty of copper piping on hand and don't mind making another bong, pitch it in a dumpster somewhere. Now go out and buy some junk food and then get high!

I'm still looking for a better way to make bowls (I know I can make better ones when I go to a hardware store or head shop, but I mean for free) so if you do know a way, or have any comments or questions, please feel free to email me at milo.of.kroton (at) gmail.com