Just in time for 710 Day, meet some Phoenix artists making gorgeous, high-end dab rigs. Erika McKendree (left) takes a hit off one of recycled glass pipes Jazmyne Plantillas (right) makes and sells under her Cherry Eyes Smokeware brand. or those who aren’t in the know, the date July 10 or 7/10 is a holiday for cannabis consumers, especially those who consume cannabis concentrate, a.k.a. wax, dab — or “OIL.” “Some folks may not know that 710 backward reads “OIL,” says Erika McKendree, a local cannabis brand ambassador and longtime cannabis user. “To me, 710 is a well-known stoner holiday where users partake in dabs. Cannabis users who enjoy dabs over flower prefer variations of oil because the duration of the high lasts longer than smoking flower buds and is manageable.” The dabber uses a rig, a vaporizing device that looks like a bong. But the rig is generally smaller than a bong and different because instead of a bowl to place the marijuana, the dabber’s rig has a nail made of quartz, titanium, or similar material that’ll sustain lots of heat. First, the dabber heats the nail with a blowtorch, then utilizes a tool to place the dab of concentrate oil onto the nail. The dabber then inhales the smoke emitted from the dab as it reacts to the hot nail. In the last few years, as more people mastered the cannabis extract process of squeezing the oils and THC out of cannabis to create an oil dab for dabbers, the demand for glass rigs increased. And as dabbers’ tastes and quality of high evolved, and their spending on top- shelf concentrates increased, so did their glass rig budget. Some even keep their new cannabis glassware on shelves like fine crystal. As custom glass rigs and bongs grew in demand, the skills of local glassblowers, glassmakers, and glass repurposers evolved. In honor of 710, Phoenix New Times sought out the “most lit” cannabis glassmakers in the Valley. Happy 710 Day. Friday Glass Jake Brodsky from Friday Glass in Chandler has been customizing glass for nearly 10 years. For eight of those years, he’s been creating rigs and bongs. “Most bongs are made using a glass lathe, and the sculpted pieces are traditionally done by hand,” he says. What Brodsky does is called lamp- working, a type of glasswork in which a lamp or torch is utilized to liquify the glass. Once the glass is liquified, it is formed by blowing and then shaping by handling (with gloves) and graphite tools that are dense and can sustain high temperatures. He also uses brass carving tools that resemble scalpels. On Instagram, the 30-year-old artist goes by the @friday_glass handle. His recent posts featuring his latest creations include a glass Homer Simpson character with a doughnut in one hand and a Duff beer in the other. Another piece is >> p 16 15 phoenixnewtimes.com | CONTENTS | FEEDBACK | OPINION | NEWS | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | PHOENIX NEW TIMES JULY 7TH–JULY 13TH, 2022 az.mac.g allery
