While working in the glass industry, we've experienced a lot of different terms and slang when it comes to glass technique, function, percs, downstems, and body types. To boot, there are usually multiple nicknames for referring to these categories. We are going to try our best to explain to you what knowledge we have gathered and experienced over the years from A to Z. Hopefully, this will give us all a better understanding the next time someone throws you a new crazy name for your functional art!
9mm - The smallest slide size that is commonly used in bongs with a rubber grommet. They will also be longer than your more common 10,14, and 18mm joints so you shouldn't have a hard time recognizing these older styles of slides!
10mm - The 10mm size is most commonly used on a dab rig because of the tighter airflow that helps the function of the rig and allows you to whip your extract around your banger with ease!
14mm - This size is the "average Joe" of joints and is optimal for both flower and concentrates! Most medium-sized bongs and dab rigs will have this size joint whether its male or female.
18mm - If you're into snapping fat bowls and want the best airflow for flower, you are going to want a bong with an 18mm joint on it for sure! Most large-sized bongs will have this joint size to ensure a quick snap for a cool hit.
45-Degree - Refers to the 45-degree slant of the drop down or banger that you will need to match the joint of a beaker or tube that has a 45-degree angle as well.
90-Degree - Refers to the 90-degree angle that matches the right angle of most straight tube bongs or banger hangers.
Adapter/Reducer - A small glass reducing or adapting joint that is double sided with the preferred fitting that you need to make your banger or slide fit your rig, bong or bubbler better. *For example, if your bong is an 18mm Female but you have a 14mm Male slide, you will need an 18Male/14Female reducer so that the 18mm Male part fit's into the bong and the 14mm Female part can fit the 14mm slide that you have.
Kiln Anneal/Annealed - The process of slowly cooling down the finished glass inside of a proper Kiln to ensure its strength. Kiln cycles are usually around 8 hours. Taking this crucial step ensures that the glass is reinforced and will hold durability and doesn't have any of the stress points that would break during this process and not during a "bench cool". *99% of Imported Chinese/Indian Glass is not annealed at all!
Ash Catcher/Pre-Cooler/Perc - Essentially, an additional chamber with a 45 or 90-degree joint to catch your ash before it shoots into your bong. There are a few different styles out there, most of them having an extra perc but the newer styles are more of a vessel to simply catch your ash rather than adding the extra perc for a function that ends up throwing ash into your bong or bubbler either way!
Atomizer - The titanium II vessel which connects between your battery and mouthpiece that either has a ceramic, quartz, or titanium II heating element that vaporizes your extracts or flower that you put in it.
Banger - A quartz bucket that is attached to a 90 or 45-degree joint and is used to smoke extracts. A carb cap is used as convection to keep the heat retention of the quartz and get a more effective rip from your rig. There are many variations/designs of these that are being innovated on daily!
Banger Hanger - Refers to a smaller style of dab rig that has a reclaim catch joint for a 90-degree banger to sit on.
Battery - The computer part of a vaporizer that has the temperature control and heats up your atomizer to the preferred setting. They can either have one general setting (like the pens) or the more expensive ones will have a temperature control display for you to set to your favorite temperature and will be slightly larger as well.
Beaker Bottom - This shape refers to the triangular bottom bongs that you will commonly see. Directly inspired from the Erlenmeyer flask, these bongs have a variety of sizes and can be made with many types of percs. They can also either be dab rigs depending on the size and style.
Bench Annealed/Bench Cool - An improper way of annealing or cooling your glass that results in your glass being weaker and more prone to breaking. It is the quickest way to have glass to sell the same day that you make it rather than waiting for it to strengthen in the Kiln overnight.
Bing - A bong/water pipe.
Bong/Water Pipe- A vessel of glass that is made with a slide and has a downstem that sits in the water allowing for filtration, better flavor, and cooler smoke.
Borosilicate/Boro - The glass that is most commonly used in kitchen and smoking glass due to its durability and ability to withstand harsh temperature changes without breaking!
Bowl/Spoon - The good ol' handy classic hand pipe! Sometimes referring to the slide for a bong.
Bubbler/Water Pipe - The defining feature of this style is the smaller overall sized can with an attached bent neck that is positioned above the bowl, whether it's a removable or fixed bowl. Some examples are Hammer, Sidecar, and Sherlock bubblers!
Bubble Bottom - The style of a bong with a round base and is modeled after the scientific Volumetric Flask!
Bubble Trap - A technique used in glassblowing where a small air bubble is trapped within the glass making a design or pattern. A very old technique that has made its way into the modern glass industry!
Can - The body or main chamber of the bubbler, bong or dab rig.
Carb - The hole that provides control over the airflow of the type of glass that you are smoking out of. In hand pipes and most bubblers, the carb is the third hole located on the side or front of the pipe that you cover while smoking and then uncover to clear the pipe of smoke. In bongs, they are rare, they would be located in the back of smaller old school styles.
Carb Cap/Directional Flow Carb Cap/Bubble Cap - A small boro or quartz accessory for dabbing that you will put on top of your banger to restrict and control the airflow. Directional flow caps are usually flat in shaping and have an angled spout that helps push your oil around depending on how you spin or direct it. Bubble caps are the round caps that you set in your banger that will have a straight spout which moves your oil around depending on how you move the cap around.
CFL Glass - This refers to glass that changes from one shade of color under CFL lighting to another shade of color in natural light. Some CFL Glass will change in two types of CFL lighting giving it a 3 stage shift!
Chazzed - A term used to describe a heavily or improperly used banger that needs to be changed. The white cloudy look on an old banger.
Chamber - A vessel that can be the main can, attachment of a bong or rig, or can have a perc of any type in it.
Chillum/Bat/One-Hitter/Straight Shooter - The good ol' "sneak a toke" pipe that is a single tube piece of glass, ceramic, or metal that you put your herb into one side an inhale from the other!
Cold Work - Refers to any work that is done while the glass is at room temperature vs over 1,000 degrees F!
Dab Rig/Rig - What makes a dab rig different from a traditional flower bong or water pipe, is mostly the size of the can. The size allows for better flavor and also lets the artist put their creativity and scientific/artistic techniques to use giving the buyer a more enjoyable smoking experience in the long run!
Dabber - The glass or titanium tool that you will use to get your extract into the banger for a dab.
Daisy Quartz Nail - The type of nail that doesn't require a carb cap because of the slits that let the oil have enough airflow while vaporizing.
Deep Carve - A careful process of sandblasting a thick piece of glass really deep so that you have deep valleys in between your glass design.
Dewar Joint - A recessed joint that is welded within the can of the rig or bong.
Dichro/Dichroic Glass - Glass that has layers of micro metals stacked on top of each other giving an iridescent and metallic look and changing different colors in different lighting!
Diffuser/Diffy - The holes or slits that are in a downstem that is removable or fixed.
Disc Perc/Honeycomb Per - This percs share a similar function and have to both be thin disc shapes with holes or slits going through the perc allowing for its jet stream-like type of function.
Dome - 1.Perc: A type of perc that has an airflow that starts within itself and comes out of either holes or slits at the bottom of it, creating a sort of shell or dome around the perc.
2. Accessory: The part of old school dabbing and was essentially used for the same purposes of a carb cap. It would go around the quartz nail and restrict the airflow allowing you to get a proper dab.
Domeless Nail - The type of nail that has airflow in the center voiding the use of a carb cap.
Downstem/Removable/Fixed/ - The long piece of glass that sits inside of the bong or rig and is connected to the joint providing the basic function. Can be removable or fixed.
Drop Down - An accessory that is an extension for a bong or rig that allows you to switch from a male joint to a female joint while dropping the elevation of the slide down as well.
E-Nail - A battery with an adjustable temperature display and is attached to a titanium coil that fits around nails and certain bangers, giving you the best temperature control for your dabs.
Encalmo - A glass technique that combines two different color tones of glass together seamlessly.
Faberge/Fab Egg/Straight Fab - A very popular and staple design in the shape of an egg that is made of two swiss perc sections that give it a very unique function.
Fixed - When something is welded into the glass, such as a downstem.
Flame Polish - Flame polishing refers to polishing up and sharp edges of glass at the end of a project or after sandblasting glass, giving it a glossy finish.
Frit - Glass color that is ground to different grains and is poured or rolled to create a textured look and keeps the layer of clear over or under it.
Female Joint - The most common type of joint that requires a male joint to fit inside of it.
Fumed/Silver/Gold - Fuming is the process of vaporizing silver or gold in front of the torch flame. The silver/gold vapor is propelled by the flame and attaches to the glass the is also in the flame. A very popular and common technique also known as "color-changing" glass.
Function - The term used to show how the percs inside of a bong or rig will work.
Gill Perc - The type of perc that is carved into the can of the bong or rig to give a hidden and seamless aesthetic look.
Glass on Glass - Refers to the modern style of bongs where you have a glass downstem that directly fits into a glass joint rather than touching a rubber grommet first.
Grided Downstem/Perc - The type of downstem that has vertical slits with a horizontal line of glass through the middle so that each slit becomes two and creates more oxygen in the function.
Grommet - The rubber ring that sits between the slide and bong. Mostly seen in older models of glass!
Hammer Pipe/Bubbler - Refers to pipes or bubblers in shape of a hammer, with the large can and long thin stem.
Igloo Perc - A multiple hole poke perc that is the end of a gill perc and resembles an igloo hut in the center of the rig.
Illuminati/Blu-V/Lucy/Nova - The most commonly used and popular UV reactive colors in Borosilicate Glass.
Inline Perc - The type of perc that is long in shape and is fixed directly into the bottom of the bong or rig and will usually have multiple slits or holes for the proper function.
Inside Out - The technique used on glass where the color is on the inside of the pipe instead of the outside, giving a 3D look to the lines or dots that are commonly used in this technique.
Joint - The part of the glass that you put your slide, banger, or nail into or onto.
Lip Wrap - The thin line of color in between sections or on the top or bottom of various glass pieces.
Mouthpiece - The part of the glass that you put your mouth up to.
Nail/Quartz/Titanium - An older accessory for dabbing that is either a quartz or titanium piece of glass that you put into male joints. The shape resembles a nail that you would hit with a hammer which gives it the name!
Natural Perc - Refers to a bong or rig that functions directly from the attached joint. A percless waterpipe!
Neck - The shaft of the bong or rig that is between the can and the mouthpiece.
Perc/Perculator/Perculation - The source of function on a waterpipe or rig. The glass that sits inside of water and provides a certain function depending on the type of perc. Examples are a tree, ufo, or inline!
Quartz - The organic material that has a higher melting point than glass and cools off much quicker, making it very hard to work with. Used for dabbing because of its ability to take high temperatures without cracking. Holds heat longer than glass as well.
Ratchet Perc - A type of perc that was invented by C2 Custom Creations and is a take on the disc perc.
Reclaim Catch - The wide base of a 90-degree female joint on a dab rig that catches the leftover "reclaim" from your dabs that you can clean out and use for various things.
Removable Downstem - This term refers to the removable long glass piece/joint that your slide will go into and that will be diffused and create the basic function for a bong or dab rig.
Sandblasted - The process of shooting different grain sand through a machine with an air gun tip with enough force to cut and blast glass away in a certain pattern.
