Table-top Bong

This project is a clone of the fabulous TableTop bong. Lee has gone through many iterations and overcome many challenges. His YouTube videos are a staple for the Dry Herb Vape crowd, so please support his business. I have great respect for Lee and his products. I just wanted to take a shot making my own.

Please note that I didn't buy these products from Lee then just take measurements and copy. I built numerous prototypes to achieve similar results. 

This is not a trivial project. You will need a drill press, Forstner bits, a miter saw, a router and router table, and various hand tools. I highly recommend you get your preferred TableTop Bong or Orb from Lee unless you have the right tools and building experience.

Bill of Materials (BOM)

• 500ML flask from Amazon: $38.99

  • Note: I was surprised how small 500ml is. 500ml is 2 cups (16.9oz, to be exact), so with one cup of water and one cup of air, it's a very good sized bong. 250ml would be too small for my preferences.  

  • I love the logo of "StonyLab" on the flask. Purely coincidental, but so apropo! 

  • I chose to go with the three neck version, so I would have a built-in carb using a glass stopper. You could also use a cork or rubber one too. This same build should work with the two neck version. 

  • The other company that sells on Amazon is Laboy. I didn't try their flasks as they aren't using Amazon Prime.

• Glass Solid Stopper from Amazon: $10.99

• 130mm (5") downstem from Smoke6: $4.99 or free with order of other stuff

  • note: this is a very basic downstem. I will likely upgrade to something more better

  • Possible downstem from AliExpress*. $4.83 for the 4.5" (115mm/145mm) version

    • • I got the 4.5" and it fits well. The 5" would fit too, but would be very close to the bottom of the orb. I recommend the 4.5", not the 5". If the downstem touches the bottom, the bottom could develop a crack.

• 4cm Non-slip Sticky Pad from AliExpress*: $0.85

  • note: I think 4cm is too big. 

• Hanger bolts 

  • One needed if you build an Orb. 

  • Four needed if you build a Bong.

• Four acorn nuts if you build a Bong

• One wingnut if you build an Orb

• 1" wood dowel

• 8"x16" wood for base and top

• Wood glue

• 0.5" x 2" rubber band (commonly found holding brocolli together at my local grocer)

• One 18mm to 14mm glass adapter for the Turbo Whip Hose (see video)

  • Here's a very cheap one from AliExpress*. Mine cracked and I treated it well, so buyer beware.

• One 90° extension joint for the whip. 

  • Here's one (untested by me) from AliExpress*

• One mouthpiece. I used this one from AliExpress*: $5.08

• One whip diffuser. I used this one from AliExpress*: $4.41

  • Note: you get two pieces for the price shown

*Note, with AliExpress you need $10 order for free shipping

If you decide to build one of these, be extremely careful with the flask. I lost one to the garage floor! I now only work with fitting the glass flask onto the frame when I'm sitting on a carpeted floor.

Here's my first prototype Table-top Orb:

And I refined the prototype it a little with a little sanding and rounding over the edges:

And here is the final product. I call it 'Construction Grade!

Next steps, which I will not get to until mid-March, are exact measurements and making a TableTop Bong clone.

DIY Table-top Orb

Stuff used:

• Pencil

• Ruler

• Miter Saw

• 1.5" Hole Saw. A 1.5" forstner bit will also work. A spade bit would work, but the holes might not be pretty.

• Drill press

• Drill bits

• Center punch

• Some other minor stuff listed in the instructions. 

• 5.25" x 6" x 1" (nominal) wood for base

• 5.75" x 2.25" x 1" nominal wood for top

• 1" dowel 

• one (1) 1/4 in-20tpi 2" hanger bolt

• 1 1/4" wingnut

• 40mm forstner bit

• 4cm "sticky pad"

• Wood Glue

• Stain

• Finish

These are my running notes on the Table-top Orb

• Cut the wood

  • 5.25" x 6" x 1" (nominal) wood for base

  • 5.75" x 2.25" x 1" nominal wood for top

  • 4.75" x 1" dowel

• On the base, mark a dot 7/8" from the short edge, and center the long way - 2 5/8" from one side. This is the where the post will go. It will be centered and 7/8" from the edge.

• On the top piece, mark a dot 7/8" from the long edge, and center the short edge - 1 1/8" from one side. This is the where the post will go.

• Mark a dot for the top pieces large hole. 1 1/8" from the long edge and 3.75" from the same edge as the post hole.

• Mark the same location on the base piece. This will be the center of a small Forstner hole to hold the sticky pad. 2 5/8" from the side and 3.75" from the post hole side.

The DIY Table-top Bong

I started the Table-Top version 'cuz I couldn't wait! :-) I really enjoy the above Orb version, and I wanted a more sturdy Table-Top.

Stuff Used:

• Pencil

• Ruler

• Miter Saw

• 1.5" Hole Saw. A 1.5" forstner bit will also work. A spade bit would work, but the holes might not be pretty.

• Drill press

• Drill bits

• Center punch

• Some other minor stuff listed in the instructions. 

• 6" x 6" x 1" or 1.5" (nominal) wood

• 6" x 6" x .75 or 1" (nominal) wood

• .75" wood dowel

• eight (8) 1/4 in-20tpi 2" hanger bolts

• 4 washers and 1/4" nuts

• 4 1/4" acorn nuts 

• Stain

• Finish

These are my running notes on the table-top bong

• Cut a decent .75" or 1" (nominal) piece of wood 6" square. This will be the top

• Cut a decent 1" to 1.5" (nominal) piece of wood 6" square. This will be the bottom
  WARNING: ensure the two pieces are identical (6" x 6), or stuff won't line up later.

• To protect against the wood not being perfectly square, and to ensure the posts are aligned, all measurements will be from the center. Measure and draw a center line (horizontal and vertical, not diagonal).

• Measure 2.25" from the center lines, and draw 4 lines.
  Hint: Put the center line on the wood at 2.25" on the ruler and mark at 0" and 4.5".

• After drawing the four lines, ensure the crossover points are exactly 4.5" apart for all 4 lines. 

• Mark one of the center lines 1 15/16" from the center. These will be the holes for the side ports of the flask.

Your board should look like this:

and you will drill pilot hole at the shown dots.

NOTE: Only drill the side port holes (6 and 7) on the top piece. The rest of the holes (1-5) through both pieces.

You can draw diagonals from corner to corner to ensure the center and point 1-4 are on those lines. This should work if the 4 corners are perfectly square.

NOTE: Only drill the side port holes (6 and 7) on the top piece. The rest of the holes (1-5) through both pieces.

• • I used a small drill bit, slightly larger than some nails I had. 

  • I set aside four nails that I used to align the holes. 

  • I put the top and bottom pieces together and put them on the drill press. I really tried hard to ensure they were aligned. 

  • Drill the first pilot hole in the center, through both pieces of wood. It will come in handy to have the same center marked on the bottom piece.

  • Slide a nail through the top of this hole to ensure alignment

  • Drill the 4 corners (opposites first) through both pieces of wood and slide nails through the top of each hole to ensure alignment. 

  • Note: The more exacting this step is done, the easier the the whole thing will fit together later.

• Drill the Forstner holes for the 4 post holes. These will be drilled with a .75" Forstner bit to a depth of .25". NOTE: I think if I were to do it again, I would only drill these to 1/8".

• Assuming you are using 1/4" hanger bolts for the posts, drill 17/64" holes in the center of all the post holes on the top and bottom pieces. This will allow the 20tpi section of the hanger bolts to poke through the wood to be fastened with nuts.

  • Note: I chose not to use hanger bolts on the bottom of the cage. I chose to just screw the dowels in on the bottom, and eventually I will add some wood glue.

• On the top piece only, drill the three 1.5" holes on the center line. I used a hole saw, but a Forstner bit will work too. A spade bit will work, but not be as smooth.

Prepare the posts

• The height of the posts will depend on how accurate the Forstner holes are, what you are using for the base of the flask, and the particular flask you are using. 

  • One option is a 110mm cork stand ring holder, like this one from AliExpress.

  • Another option is a 4 cm "sticky dot" like this one from AliExpress. If you go this route, you might want to inset the pad like Lee does.

• Once you determine how you will seat the flask, you can assemble it all and take an initial measurement for the post height. Remember to add 1/2" (or 1/4" if you drilled them 1/8") to account for the Forstner holes.

  • WARNING: I highly recommend assembling and disassembling while seated on the ground, on carpet. The darned flasks are slippery when you don't want them to, and it will slip out. 

• Drilling the center holes for the hanger bolts is tricky. Like the other steps, the more exact you can be, the easier the whole thing will work. I drilled Forstner hole 2" deep into a 4"x4" and used that as a base to hold the posts. I then made a little template with a small piece of wood. I drilled a Forstner hole halfway through the small piece of wood, then drilled a pilot hole through the rest. I then used that as the template for the drill press to center the bit onto the post. See the images and video below.

• Once the posts are assembled, you can put the cage together without the flask to ensure it all fits. You may need to sand down the ends of the dowels so they fit better, and I had to file the inner parts of the two outer port holes a little. 

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the results. Note that I went through numerous prototypes and failures, and the pictures below are with crappy scrap wood. I'm going to live with these for a while, then make some with nicer wood. "StonyLab just happens to be the name of the company I got the flask from. They aren't related to the cannabis industry, but the logo just fits so well for what this is. 

The above finished bong is what happened after I sanded, routed, stained, and finished the above wood.

And finally, a second finished product made with Walnut plywood and 10 coats of wipe-on poly.