Bongs are some of the most prevalent smoking accessories in the marijuana industry. These tools are lauded for providing an elevated smoking experience and a healthier way to consume weed. However, modern bongs offer more than a sophisticated way to enjoy your favorite cannabis strains. They combine intricate design, elaborate art, technology, and functionality to create an excellent smoking device.
Although bongs have been a part of cannabis culture for a while, many new weed consumers are unfamiliar with how bongs work, how to fill a bong, and how they are made. This guide highlights how to make glass bongs and provides excellent insight into some practices that leading manufacturers use to create them.
The Techniques Used For Making Bongs
Although manufacturers have several ways of making bongs, the most prevalent one is using the core techniques of glass blowing. For this reason, to fully understand the bong-making process, you must know how glass is blown.
Even so, the complexity of bongs sets them apart from other glass smoking accessories like fumed glass pipes. Many bongs come with elaborate percolators and ice catchers, which have both functional and aesthetic purposes.
So, how are bongs made? Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you understand how to make bongs and appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into them.
Step One: Creating The Water Chamber
Creating the water chamber is the first step when making hand made bongs. The water chamber also serves as the base for the entire bong. Therefore, this is a significant step in the process. Like most other glass marijuana pipes, bongs start as long, thin glass tubes.
The artisan, usually known as a glass blower, uses a blowtorch to heat the glass tube until it’s malleable enough to mold. The heat causes it to expand into a bigger cylinder. The artist then blows into the cylinder to inflate it into a bulbous bubble. The glass blower must continually rotate the glass while blowing into it to ensure the base doesn’t turn out uneven.
The artist shapes the glass while it’s hot to acquire the desired design and size. After shaping the water chamber, the glass blower uses a special tool to punch a hole in the side. The hole is where the downstem will eventually fit.
Step Two: Making The Neck
After making the water chamber, the blower applies heat to the glass tube above it to create the neck of the bong. As the glass pipe swells into a larger cylinder, the craftsman rotates it gently over the fire to ensure uniformity. The blower often uses a lathe to shape the cylinder until it becomes long and wide enough to serve as the neck of the bong.
Step Three: The Mouthpiece
With the neck and water chamber complete, the glass blown bong starts to take shape. The next step is shaping the mouthpiece at the top of the neck. To do this, the artisan applies more heat to make the glass malleable. At this point, they separate the widened neck of the bong from the rest of the initial glass tubing that remains.
After the neck breaks from the glass tubing, the blower rotates it over the fire to maintain a uniform shape and size. From there, they smoothen the top of the neck and fashion it into a mouthpiece while watching out for rough and sharp edges.
Step Four: Making The Downstem and Bowl
Most bongs in the market utilize a removable downstem and bowl for easy replacement. For this reason, glass blowers must make these components in addition to the bong. Artisans create the downstem and bowl using the same technique as blowing glass bongs.
Therefore, the blower heats glass tubing until it becomes malleable. After that, the artisans manipulate the glass by blowing, spinning, and using various tools to widen and shape the hot glass. The artists have to get the correct measurements for the components to fit snuggly.
Machine-Made Bongs
Although this guide mainly focuses on handmade bongs, there are other ways to fabricate these smoking accessories. Machine-made bongs are also quite common in the modern cannabis market. They are often mass-produced using a similar technique of heating glass tubing until it becomes malleable before shaping and molding them into various shapes and sizes.
Can You Create Your Own Bong?
The short answer is yes. However, doing this requires more than just the knowledge of how to make water bongs. It demands immense experience, skill, and tools to blow glass bongs successfully.
If you don’t heat the glass evenly, some areas may become thicker than others. Such a design flaw can cause the bong to break easily and hinders the smoking accessory from performing at its best. Similarly, failing to maintain constant rotation when heating the glass causes lopsidedness, which renders the bong unusable.
In addition, there is a severe health risk involved when making bongs. If you accidentally inhale when blowing glass, you risk breathing in toxic fumes that can lead to internal burns. For this reason, blowing your own bong is not recommended, and it would be better to get cheap bongs instead.
Styles and Decorations For Glass Blown Bongs
One of the reasons why glass hand made bongs are a big hit is because many fanatics of cannabis culture consider them as pieces of art. Some glass blowers create intricate artisanal bongs that can sell for thousands of dollars. Even so, this doesn’t mean that affordable bongs are not artistic. Many cool bongs are reasonably priced and include stylistic elements that make them unique.
Bong Accessories
Apart from being incredibly functional and stylish, many glass bongs are also modular, allowing consumers to add various components to improve the smoking experience. Ice catchers and percolators are among the most widespread accessories used for this purpose.
Ice catchers are circular trays that go in the neck of the bong. They are designed to hold ice cubes, which cool the smoke to provide smoother hits. On the other hand, percolators are small glass gadgets placed on the neck or base of the bong. They have numerous tiny holes that water passes through for filtration. Consequently, percolators effectively eliminate the excessive heat and harshness of cannabis smoke while preserving the flavor.
