Tek Rosin Tek

[Baron23]

HI guys - guess I would just like to weigh in and state that my EVO is still my number 1 desktop and gets used quite a bit. FP is running a hard second, but the EVO is easy and safe (i.e. no exposed frakin hot coils).

I don't dab with it, I have a D-nail and a Liger for that, and in general I don't use 'trates in a good flower vape as I just don't like to gunk them up.

Also, I have recently bought, for an incredibly stupid small amount, a lightly used NewVape Micro 20 rosin press. I have only squished twice...with some flower that was on sale so I don't mind experimenting with it as much as I would more prized weed. So far, I'm only getting in the 13-14 % range but that's most likely due to starting material (and some to my lack of experience in squishing).

When I have a bit more experience under my belt, I will post a review of it. Its quite a piece.

@herbivore21 or anyone with a fluids/mechanical eng background - I'm trying to understand what my pressure gauge is telling me. Here is a pic of the rig:

So, this is a 10 ton jack with an appropriate hydrolic pump. The pressure gauge is just downstream of the pump so is either measuring line pressure to the press or head pressure out of the pump, but in any case those are the same (there is a check valve in the connectors...as is usual so as to be able to take it apart without hydro fluid getting everywhere...and I'm not sure where that is exactly relative to the gauge).

Here is my question, when my pressure gauge is reading 6,000 psi, what is the pressure being applied to each square inch of the platen (or to each square inch of the flower that's being pressed). I believe that my gauge is telling me that if applied solely to a 1 square inch area, then the pressure would indeed be 6,000 psi. But, say my platen is 4" x 4" = 16 sq in. Then I believe that the pressure being applied to each square inch would be 6000/16 = 375 psi at the working surface. Likewise, if I use a nug pre-press and end up with a 2" x 3" puck in a micron bag then that is 6 sq inch and the pressure being applied to the flower would be 6000/6 = 1,000 psi being applied to the puck.

Am I thinking correctly here on this??

P.S. - oooops, @momofthegoons ....bit of a hijack? Does this need to be moved?

 

[herbivore21]

HI guys - guess I would just like to weigh in and state that my EVO is still my number 1 desktop and gets used quite a bit. FP is running a hard second, but the EVO is easy and safe (i.e. no exposed frakin hot coils).

I don't dab with it, I have a D-nail and a Liger for that, and in general I don't use 'trates in a good flower vape as I just don't like to gunk them up.

Also, I have recently bought, for an incredibly stupid small amount, a lightly used NewVape Micro 20 rosin press. I have only squished twice...with some flower that was on sale so I don't mind experimenting with it as much as I would more prized weed. So far, I'm only getting in the 13-14 % range but that's most likely due to starting material (and some to my lack of experience in squishing).

When I have a bit more experience under my belt, I will post a review of it. Its quite a piece.

@herbivore21 or anyone with a fluids/mechanical eng background - I'm trying to understand what my pressure gauge is telling me. Here is a pic of the rig:

View attachment 4412

So, this is a 10 ton jack with an appropriate hydrolic pump. The pressure gauge is just downstream of the pump so is either measuring line pressure to the press or head pressure out of the pump, but in any case those are the same (there is a check valve in the connectors...as is usual so as to be able to take it apart without hydro fluid getting everywhere...and I'm not sure where that is exactly relative to the gauge).

Here is my question, when my pressure gauge is reading 6,000 psi, what is the pressure being applied to each square inch of the platen (or to each square inch of the flower that's being pressed). I believe that my gauge is telling me that if applied solely to a 1 square inch area, then the pressure would indeed be 6,000 psi. But, say my platen is 4" x 4" = 16 sq in. Then I believe that the pressure being applied to each square inch would be 6000/16 = 375 psi at the working surface. Likewise, if I use a nug pre-press and end up with a 2" x 3" puck in a micron bag then that is 6 sq inch and the pressure being applied to the flower would be 6000/6 = 1,000 psi being applied to the puck.

Am I thinking correctly here on this??

P.S. - oooops, @momofthegoons ....bit of a hijack? Does this need to be moved?

Damn I just had some pressing work come up as I was about to respond here, but I'll be back to discuss this with you soon brother, I should hopefully be able to assist

That is an incredible windfall for you to have gotten your hands on for a small price man, congrats on having gotten yourself in a position to make great solventless concentrates! Can't wait to see what you do and I'll be back to further discuss getting to know your press asap

 

[Baron23]

Damn I just had some pressing work come up as I was about to respond here, but I'll be back to discuss this with you soon brother, I should hopefully be able to assist

That is an incredible windfall for you to have gotten your hands on for a small price man, congrats on having gotten yourself in a position to make great solventless concentrates! Can't wait to see what you do and I'll be back to further discuss getting to know your press asap

Hello my dear friend - I just got done reading this thread from the start and I'm working my way through the last 50 pages of a similar thread on FC (but wow, 3/4 of it I can just skip over).

I do know you are busy but when you have a chance, please do pop over and look into this thread as I would like to start a conversation with you on this subject. I'm fine with it being a slo mo conversation (LOL) with gaps as I know you are still working (while I'm luxuriate in retirement! hahaha)

And yes, getting this press rig for the silly price I did really is a boon.

I have only two squishes so far with mediocre results which may be due to the quality of the starting material. I have gotten 13-14 % yeilds but both pressings were with the same $25/eight flower that I bought specifically to experiment with. That price is very inexpensive in my newly med legal state but before I start squishing higher quality/more expensive flower I would like to continue to work on my technique.

I am keeping a log of temps, amounts, time, method (e.g. naked in parchment, bottle tech, whatever). My two squishes so far have been naked bud in parchment and I tried a bottle tech of a couple of grams. Sadly, I blew out the bag badly. Need to work on that a bit. I have a 2 x 3 pre-press and my plan is for the next squish to be pre-pressed and filter bagged.

Questions I have:

1. Well, the pressure question I formed in my last post above. I believe I'm seeing it correctly but would like some confirmation.

2. Temps - I have used 220 F first and then dropped to 195 F. All temps are measured with a probe type thermo that I confirmed accuracy with a pot of rapidly boiling water. Although much different temps, the consistency came out the same...pull and not quite snap. More like pull and stretch if you get my meaning.

3. I have been increasing pressure in stages over 2 minutes and taking it to the max of 8k psi (80% of the spec'd max of 10k psi which is the manf recommended daily practical use max). Maybe too much pressure when doing small squishes? What down side is there to too much pressure aside from possible blow outs and perhaps pushing flower bits into the rosin?

4. I have been using Reynold's parchment. I did buy a roll of Slick Sheet sometime back.....but note that you do not recommend this for flower squishing...not even if pre-pressed into a puck? I have on its way to me a box of Slick Paper which I see you do recommend but which another poster thought may be too slick. I did order a roll of Slick Wrap but upon further examination it did have the blue icon on it which I believe indicates hydroguard so I cancelled that. Any other suggestions?

As a final note, I absolutely adore my fresh rosin. It taste better than most other forms of concentrates that I have tried but immensely more important to me is that the effects are super well rounded just like flower (and by comparison, way more so than hydro or CO2 extract).

Hopefully, I can get the yields up a bit.

Look forward to hearing back from you when you get a chance.

 

[Baron23]

@herbivore21 , et al - well, I was wrong about gauge pressure versus platen pressure.

I did look in the BVA info that came with the press for info on cylinder area but couldn't find it and it turns out that its key info. @NewVape replied to my inquiry with some great info and in return I suggested that they post this on their site under a FAQ as its very important info that most will not understand.

The PSI gauge is, as I suspected, the force per square inch being applied to the hydo cylinder which has an area of 4.3702 sq inches. So, total force being applied to the platen is the gauge PSI times the cylinder area. So, for example, 6,000 psi at the gauge generates 26,221 pounds of force to the plates. Take this 26,221 and divide it by the area of your load...and lets say its a pre-pressed 2" x 3" filter bagged load with 6 square inches of area, then I'm putting 4.370 pis on the load.

I have been squishing the living shit out of weed in my first two attempts. But clearly area goes up very quickly with larger loads and as you can see in the below chart, a 4 x 4 load at the same 6k psi on the gauge = 1,639 psi on the load....much different. Much more in line with what I have read is optimum (about 1k psi). Although, aside from blow outs and perhaps driving more rosin into the parchment, I'm not sure there is a down side to using much higher pressure????

They provided this chart which was helpful but just knowing the area of cylinder is all that's needed along with some simple arithmetic.

I plan to squish this afternoon using the 2 x 3 pre-press mold and a filter bag. I think I'm going to hold my pressure down to 3k or 4k gauge PSI and see. 4k = 2,913 psi on the load which should be PLENTY.

I did get a real cheapo USB microscope from Amazon...its so cheap that the more advanced measurement software that came with it bombs out with a couple of dozen exceptions. Its supposed to be compatible with my Win 7 but screw it, the more simple interface does work and all i want is to see and capture images so its fine. Below are close ups of the Virgin OG I have been squishing. Bought it on sale but it actually looks pretty good, yeah?? This was shot on a face inside the bud...that is, I broke it open a bit and took the shot inside. This was a small popcorn bud so the larger ones may well be better.

 

[Baron23]

@herbivore21 - you need to retire NOW so you can dedicate all of your time to helping me! hahahaha....well, maybe not. LOL

My yields suck. Below is what I have gotten with three sessions with this same batch of the same strain (Virgin OG).

Today I tried to pre-press the flower. I broke up big nugs into smaller ones and pressed them with a vice in a 2 x 3 pre-press mold. But, it didn't stick together like on the Youtube vids (NOTHING works as well as when I see it on Youtube! sigh...with humor). I did manage to get it all in the bag and flat and proceeded to press. The bag, and it has pretty nice and small stitching, had a LOT of visible rosin trapped after the first pressing so I folded it over twice and squished the hell out of it this time.

Look after first squish....sad, really...sigh

Second press

Resulting rosin looks very nice and the consistency is what I rather like...pull/snap but maybe a little more taffy like than that.

Here is my log of squishes to date. I am now out of the Virgin OG and plan to squish some other, perhaps higher quality, flower and see if that changes my yields significantly. Also, I'm going back to raw nugs in parchment as it seems like the bags are useful for larger loads while I'm a 1-3.5 g guy. Not sure though, need to revisit bottle tech and hopefully not blow out the bag next time.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

[herbivore21]

@herbivore21 , et al - well, I was wrong about gauge pressure versus platen pressure.

I did look in the BVA info that came with the press for info on cylinder area but couldn't find it and it turns out that its key info. @NewVape replied to my inquiry with some great info and in return I suggested that they post this on their site under a FAQ as its very important info that most will not understand.

The PSI gauge is, as I suspected, the force per square inch being applied to the hydo cylinder which has an area of 4.3702 sq inches. So, total force being applied to the platen is the gauge PSI times the cylinder area. So, for example, 6,000 psi at the gauge generates 26,221 pounds of force to the plates. Take this 26,221 and divide it by the area of your load...and lets say its a pre-pressed 2" x 3" filter bagged load with 6 square inches of area, then I'm putting 4.370 pis on the load.

I have been squishing the living shit out of weed in my first two attempts. But clearly area goes up very quickly with larger loads and as you can see in the below chart, a 4 x 4 load at the same 6k psi on the gauge = 1,639 psi on the load....much different. Much more in line with what I have read is optimum (about 1k psi). Although, aside from blow outs and perhaps driving more rosin into the parchment, I'm not sure there is a down side to using much higher pressure????

They provided this chart which was helpful but just knowing the area of cylinder is all that's needed along with some simple arithmetic.

Fantastic news brother, that was the long write-up that I was starting out when I was distracted by work in my last post! Glad NV were able to help and save me the trouble

2. Temps - I have used 220 F first and then dropped to 195 F. All temps are measured with a probe type thermo that I confirmed accuracy with a pot of rapidly boiling water. Although much different temps, the consistency came out the same...pull and not quite snap. More like pull and stretch if you get my meaning.

A lot of temps are usable for rosin, 220f is at the higher end of temps I'd ever use. Definitely the best temp if you just wanna get the best possible yield in one or two presses of the same material. Lower temps are more useful for fractional rosin, and I'd recommend using lower temps when pressing hash. Flower pressing IME is great between 175f-220f or so IME. Try different temps with different flower as YMMV very greatly depending on your starting material.

3. I have been increasing pressure in stages over 2 minutes and taking it to the max of 8k psi (80% of the spec'd max of 10k psi which is the manf recommended daily practical use max). Maybe too much pressure when doing small squishes? What down side is there to too much pressure aside from possible blow outs and perhaps pushing flower bits into the rosin?

As you've noticed above, ramping up the pressure too high can cause blow-outs with bags or damage to your parchment. It also doesn't seem to stimulate the best flow. I find that roughly 1000-2500 psi is a great pressure range, the lower end of that range is for hash pressing, the higher end for flower. Note that I calculate PSI with the surface area of my flower puck, not the surface area of the plates, it appears like that latest info from NV does the same which is great to see.

Using the same psi calculated by the surface area of the plates alone with a small amount of plant material and you'll notice that it is far too much pressure. Use more plant material with the same pressure and all of a sudden the pressure is perfect! Slowly ramping up the pressure is definitely advisable as you have been doing, and I'm glad to see you not pushing the press to the maximum pressure and sticking within that 80% range, good idea for maximizing the life of the unit! You've started out with the right information man, which will save you a lot of frustration

4. I have been using Reynold's parchment. I did buy a roll of Slick Sheet sometime back.....but note that you do not recommend this for flower squishing...not even if pre-pressed into a puck? I have on its way to me a box of Slick Paper which I see you do recommend but which another poster thought may be too slick. I did order a roll of Slick Wrap but upon further examination it did have the blue icon on it which I believe indicates hydroguard so I cancelled that. Any other suggestions?

You're right man, slick sheet I definitely recommend for hash pressing, but I do not use that for flower as IME flower pucks really deform the ptfe, unless you've done a significant pre-press to minimize deformation (even then, best avoided for flower IMO)!

Slick Wrap these days has the hydroguard plastic layer and as you mentioned, definitely is not safe for rosin at all.

I exclusively use slick paper these days, it is excellent! However, please note that only the shiny side of the slick paper should be exposed to your starting material and rosin. Fold your parchment inside out and you'll have a bad time!

I have only two squishes so far with mediocre results which may be due to the quality of the starting material. I have gotten 13-14 % yeilds but both pressings were with the same $25/eight flower that I bought specifically to experiment with. That price is very inexpensive in my newly med legal state but before I start squishing higher quality/more expensive flower I would like to continue to work on my technique.

Those yields are not necessarily unreasonable man, I've definitely found that some varieties and phenos produce more resin than others, even when grown in the best possible circumstances with the best possible methods. Some very low resin yielding varieties/phenotypes of flower will get you closer to 10% yields, believe it or not (that is the extreme low end of yields IME however). As you say, still reasonably inexpensive in your circumstances even on the lower end of yields so this is no problem. Some of the best tasting rosin that I've pressed have only yielded 10-15% from flower. Others have been well in excess of 20%. I do tend to press my flower until nothing is really coming out anymore. Of course, one can always vape the remaining ground up flower pucks after the press so you can be certain you've gotten everything out of your material in any case.

If you're getting disappointing yields with the virgin OG you have, definitely try to get your hands on a different variety and see if you get better results. As I said above, some flower just doesn't squish as good as others

I did get a real cheapo USB microscope from Amazon...its so cheap that the more advanced measurement software that came with it bombs out with a couple of dozen exceptions. Its supposed to be compatible with my Win 7 but screw it, the more simple interface does work and all i want is to see and capture images so its fine. Below are close ups of the Virgin OG I have been squishing. Bought it on sale but it actually looks pretty good, yeah?? This was shot on a face inside the bud...that is, I broke it open a bit and took the shot inside. This was a small popcorn bud so the larger ones may well be better.

There definitely look to be some heads in that flower my friend, should squish reasonably! But it does appear that a lot of those stalks don't have heads. May be somewhat immature, or some of the heads may have come off during handling at various stages of post-harvest processing.

Here is my log of squishes to date. I am now out of the Virgin OG and plan to squish some other, perhaps higher quality, flower and see if that changes my yields significantly. Also, I'm going back to raw nugs in parchment as it seems like the bags are useful for larger loads while I'm a 1-3.5 g guy. Not sure though, need to revisit bottle tech and hopefully not blow out the bag next time.

Some of bubbleman's more recent rosin videos have some good advise regarding filling flower into screen bags. That is definitely a challenge and must be approached the right way otherwise empty volume inside the rosin bags will wick up rosin and prevent it from coming out onto your parchment as you've noticed. Especially make sure to fill in the corners of your bags with enough flower not to leave empty volume. Also be careful not to apply too much pressure with bags. You can definitely ramp up the pressure a lot more without problems when you're pressing flower without bags. If you wanna stick to pressing smaller amounts at a time, no need to use bags. I never use bags personally as I only press similarly small amounts.

Let me know if I missed any of your questions my friend, I am conscious that I might have overlooked something lol. The rosin you're pressing is looking nice already! Glad to hear that you're enjoying the flavor and effects so much, it is a wonderful thing, being able to DIY rosin!

 

[Baron23]

Fantastic news brother, that was the long write-up that I was starting out when I was distracted by work in my last post! Glad NV were able to help and save me the trouble



A lot of temps are usable for rosin, 220f is at the higher end of temps I'd ever use. Definitely the best temp if you just wanna get the best possible yield in one or two presses of the same material. Lower temps are more useful for fractional rosin, and I'd recommend using lower temps when pressing hash. Flower pressing IME is great between 175f-220f or so IME. Try different temps with different flower as YMMV very greatly depending on your starting material.



As you've noticed above, ramping up the pressure too high can cause blow-outs with bags or damage to your parchment. It also doesn't seem to stimulate the best flow. I find that roughly 1000-2500 psi is a great pressure range, the lower end of that range is for hash pressing, the higher end for flower. Note that I calculate PSI with the surface area of my flower puck, not the surface area of the plates, it appears like that latest info from NV does the same which is great to see.

Using the same psi calculated by the surface area of the plates alone with a small amount of plant material and you'll notice that it is far too much pressure. Use more plant material with the same pressure and all of a sudden the pressure is perfect! Slowly ramping up the pressure is definitely advisable as you have been doing, and I'm glad to see you not pushing the press to the maximum pressure and sticking within that 80% range, good idea for maximizing the life of the unit! You've started out with the right information man, which will save you a lot of frustration


You're right man, slick sheet I definitely recommend for hash pressing, but I do not use that for flower as IME flower pucks really deform the ptfe, unless you've done a significant pre-press to minimize deformation (even then, best avoided for flower IMO)!

Slick Wrap these days has the hydroguard plastic layer and as you mentioned, definitely is not safe for rosin at all.

I exclusively use slick paper these days, it is excellent! However, please note that only the shiny side of the slick paper should be exposed to your starting material and rosin. Fold your parchment inside out and you'll have a bad time!


Those yields are not necessarily unreasonable man, I've definitely found that some varieties and phenos produce more resin than others, even when grown in the best possible circumstances with the best possible methods. Some very low resin yielding varieties/phenotypes of flower will get you closer to 10% yields, believe it or not (that is the extreme low end of yields IME however). As you say, still reasonably inexpensive in your circumstances even on the lower end of yields so this is no problem. Some of the best tasting rosin that I've pressed have only yielded 10-15% from flower. Others have been well in excess of 20%. I do tend to press my flower until nothing is really coming out anymore. Of course, one can always vape the remaining ground up flower pucks after the press so you can be certain you've gotten everything out of your material in any case.

If you're getting disappointing yields with the virgin OG you have, definitely try to get your hands on a different variety and see if you get better results. As I said above, some flower just doesn't squish as good as others


There definitely look to be some heads in that flower my friend, should squish reasonably! But it does appear that a lot of those stalks don't have heads. May be somewhat immature, or some of the heads may have come off during handling at various stages of post-harvest processing.


Some of bubbleman's more recent rosin videos have some good advise regarding filling flower into screen bags. That is definitely a challenge and must be approached the right way otherwise empty volume inside the rosin bags will wick up rosin and prevent it from coming out onto your parchment as you've noticed. Especially make sure to fill in the corners of your bags with enough flower not to leave empty volume. Also be careful not to apply too much pressure with bags. You can definitely ramp up the pressure a lot more without problems when you're pressing flower without bags. If you wanna stick to pressing smaller amounts at a time, no need to use bags. I never use bags personally as I only press similarly small amounts.

Let me know if I missed any of your questions my friend, I am conscious that I might have overlooked something lol. The rosin you're pressing is looking nice already! Glad to hear that you're enjoying the flavor and effects so much, it is a wonderful thing, being able to DIY rosin!

Thank you so very much for taking the time to write that extensive reply. Yes, I believe I have more technique to master but yes, I also believe that my starting product is most of the reason behind my current yields. Immature would not be surprising....those pics were from inside the bud so hard to see handing breaking off heads....and we are still in early days here in MD. I've notice the flower getting better and better with each crop showing up.

Although I would love to see higher yields, the rosin is wonderful. Its just lovely to vape and thanks for the feedback that I'm not too far off of what might be expected depending on the variety of flower used. So, $50 for a qtr and about .8 g from that qtr (extrapolating as I only pressed about 5.45) ain't all that bad I suppose.

I most def screwed up today as there were some space in the bag and when I use one next, I will ensure that it is even an into all of the corners.

Thanks for the tip about the slick paper...didn't know it was one side only.

I'm going to keep at it. Love the rosin and love that I'm involved in making my meds.

Thanks again, my friend. I won't bother you day by day, but from time to time I hope you don't mind if I update you on how its going and ask any questions I may have.

Cheers with gratitude for your help.

 

[herbivore21]

Thank you so very much for taking the time to write that extensive reply. Yes, I believe I have more technique to master but yes, I also believe that my starting product is most of the reason behind my current yields. Immature would not be surprising....those pics were from inside the bud so hard to see handing breaking off heads....and we are still in early days here in MD. I've notice the flower getting better and better with each crop showing up.

Although I would love to see higher yields, the rosin is wonderful. Its just lovely to vape and thanks for the feedback that I'm not too far off of what might be expected depending on the variety of flower used. So, $50 for a qtr and about .8 g from that qtr (extrapolating as I only pressed about 5.45) ain't all that bad I suppose.

This is the right attitude to have IME brother, sometimes a variety of flower may have low yields, but the rosin can still be worth it nonetheless. Chasing yields can be very beneficial for quantity, but some of my favorite material to press in terms of quality (flavor, effects, smell) has only yielded 13-15% in the past. There's a place for lower and higher yielding varieties depending on your preferences/requirements for flavor and effects.

Since your state has only just legalized and flower seems to improve as time goes on, I'm sure you'll find material that allows you to have your cake and eat it too when it comes to quality + quantity

I most def screwed up today as there were some space in the bag and when I use one next, I will ensure that it is even an into all of the corners.

That should see your presses with bags improved man, very interested to hear of your results after this change!

Thanks for the tip about the slick paper...didn't know it was one side only.

Oh man they really need to put it prominently on the packaging if they haven't already since I last bought the stuff. I've known too many people who've squished their rosin onto the wrong side of the slick paper and it really is a bummer! Not only a waste of the rosin (which cannot be easily separated from the wrong side of the slick sheet without pulling off part of the sheet with it), but the puck as well (which is utterly contaminated when pressed into the wrong side of a sheet of slick paper)... I'm glad I had the chance to let you know of this before you received the product

I'm going to keep at it. Love the rosin and love that I'm involved in making my meds.

Man if you ever find yourself able to purchase some affordable traditional hash, you're going to be even more thrilled with the results of pressing it into rosin. I've come across affordable traditional hash a few times in my early rosin days, even a 3 star (approximately half-melt) hash will often return 60% of it's weight in rosin when pressed once! This can be an incredibly cheap way to get large rosin yields if/when the opportunity arises, and the resulting rosin definitely has more of a hashy taste. I envy you being in a position with a decent press and plenty of free time man, isn't it wonderful to make your own medicine?

Thanks again, my friend. I won't bother you day by day, but from time to time I hope you don't mind if I update you on how its going and ask any questions I may have.

Cheers with gratitude for your help.

Anytime brother, I may be delayed in responding sometimes, but I'd love to help whenever possible. My favorite thing to do around here is talk about extraction like this

 

[GreenHopper]

@Baron23 I noticed on your tracking sheet you have ambient room RH noted but not the actual buds RH. I assume the bud wasn't at 90% for the first two squishes.

Placing the bud in a jar with a RH meter and letting the reading settle should help you gain an idea of the buds RH (you probably already know this).

From what I have read and seen RH of bud can have a significant impact on yields.

Full disclosure: I'm not a bud squisher (yet) but I'm fascinated by the process and look forward to trying it out one day. Just throwing ideas out there.

Nice setup by the way, I saw the vid VC-Bud did with the rig, it's a top spec setup.

 

[Baron23]

@Baron23 I noticed on your tracking sheet you have ambient room RH noted but not the actual buds RH. I assume the bud wasn't at 90% for the first two squishes.

Placing the bud in a jar with a RH meter and letting the reading settle should help you gain an idea of the buds RH (you probably already know this).

From what I have read and seen RH of bud can have a significant impact on yields.

Full disclosure: I'm not a bud squisher (yet) but I'm fascinated by the process and look forward to trying it out one day. Just throwing ideas out there.

Nice setup by the way, I saw the vid VC-Bud did with the rig, it's a top spec setup.

I have no good way to measure actual bud moisture content but this flower was kept sealed in a jar with a 62% boveda pack for a few weeks. The pack did not dry (they get kind of crispy, yeah?) out so my assumption is that the moisture was fine. Also, the bud was still very nice and pliable when squeezed a bit by hand so I'm happy that the condition of the flower was ok. Just perhaps not the highest yielding flower, but damn good effects.

P.S. - this is actually Bud's press....well, I bought it from him. Something about his wife wanting it the hell out of the garage (haha...kidding, but maybe so! haha). He sold it to me for a fabulous price and then went and bought a press from RosinpressNY ( https://www.rosinpressny.com ). He now seems to be interested in experiencing and reviewing presses priced a bit more reasonably for the home user.....reviewing is his business, after all. So, old stuff gets sold and new stuff gets bought all of the time. He recently ran a sale on a BUNCH of used vapes he had....really super deals to be had when he is in sale mode.

Cheers and thanks for the input.

 

[GreenHopper]

I have no good way to measure actual bud moisture content but this flower was kept sealed in a jar with a 62% boveda pack for a few weeks. The pack did not dry (they get kind of crispy, yeah?) out so my assumption is that the moisture was fine. Also, the bud was still very nice and pliable when squeezed a bit by hand so I'm happy that the condition of the flower was ok. Just perhaps not the highest yielding flower, but damn good effects.

Sounds like you got it covered.

FYI Cheap RH meter that fits in a jar, I use these for curing my bud and for the price ($1-$2.5) it's worth grabbing a bunch.

P.S. - this is actually Bud's press....well, I bought it from him. Something about his wife wanting it the hell out of the garage (haha...kidding, but maybe so! haha). He sold it to me for a fabulous price and then went and bought a press from RosinpressNY ( https://www.rosinpressny.com ). He now seems to be interested in experiencing and reviewing presses priced a bit more reasonably for the home user.....reviewing is his business, after all. So, old stuff gets sold and new stuff gets bought all of the time. He recently ran a sale on a BUNCH of used vapes he had....really super deals to be had when he is in sale mode.

I look forward to seeing his views on some of these off the shelf units. I'd be particularly interested in a review of the DabPress
dp-hr10t35.

 

[Baron23]

look forward to seeing his views on some of these off the shelf units. I'd be particularly interested in a review of the DabPress
dp-hr10t35.

Doesn't include the dab press, but you may be interested in this comparison of home models.

https://forum.vapelife.com/discussion/3051/rosinbomb-rocket-vs-mypress-vs-nugsmasher-mini/p1

 

[herbivore21]

FYI Cheap RH meter that fits in a jar, I use these for curing my bud and for the price ($1-$2.5) it's worth grabbing a bunch.

These are definitely handy for noticing when those 62% boveda packs need replacing, I recommend keeping a hygrometer in the container with any flower that you'll be storing for a while.

BTW, @Baron23 you are using the right boveda packs from the sound of it 62% boveda packs are best IME for storing flower that is intended for rosin.

Over many years of repeated testing, I've observed that the Boveda packs really will keep the RH of your storage vessel within 1-2% of the RH on the label. This is true of both 49% and 62% packs IME. If you have a new boveda pack and you're storing some flower with it short term, you can bet that the boveda pack/s will maintain the requisite humidity inside your container.

The main exception to this IME is if you get flower that is still relatively wet (ie: if the stems in the centre of the densest colas don't readily snap when bent), that's gonna need to be dried some in a lower RH environment (49% boveda packs can work quite well for this purpose) before being put into a container with a 62% humidity pack only when the stems are sufficiently frangible.

From what I have read and seen RH of bud can have a significant impact on yields.

Full disclosure: I'm not a bud squisher (yet) but I'm fascinated by the process and look forward to trying it out one day. Just throwing ideas out there.

Despite never having squished for yourself yet, you're right on this one my friend. It is important that your nug has enough moisture or it's not gonna produce much rosin!

 

[Baron23]

Well, I made a heck of a mess this time. I squished some old, CA sun grown, Cherry OG that I have had for a couple of years. It was kept always in a mason jar with 62% Boveda in a closed cabinet away from light. It was pretty good (not great but...) vaping flower but it was hell squishing it.

This herb...as was all of the sun grown that I was getting at that time...was a dark brownish color. No indoor mint green here. I suspect that it was also allowed to mature before harvesting as the rosin was very dark and that was not from over heating it or pressing too long (I think).

I had an 18th of it left and wanted to try bottle tech again so I figured this old weed was a pretty good candidate for sacrifice in the name of science! haha

I used a 90 micron, seamless bag and I'm pretty sure that I got the bottle tech right this time.

I ran at a measured 195, same as before, but the rosin is an oily mess. Reminds me most of the old hash oil we would get in '69 or so (and that stuff was probably deadly from residual solvent!)

Pre-heated for 30 seconds and squished for 2:30 minutes and went up to about 4k psi on the gauge...gradually. Most of press was at 2k psi.

I expected a fairly low yield and got one at 6.7% but my real issue is that the stuff was just un-collectable. It didn't stick to itself, it didn't fly off, it just smeared around on the parchment.

I'll try to dab it, its in the fridge now and I hope it sets up a bit. I have the pressing parchment in the freezer but have little hope that it will help.

P.S. - the rosin in the fridge is getting more solid and starting to look dabable. The parchment from the press went into the freezer to no avail....just impossible to collect.

@herbivore21 , @Shredder , anyone with any suggestions/input or just old weed and put it behind me?

 

[herbivore21]

I expected a fairly low yield and got one at 6.7% but my real issue is that the stuff was just un-collectable. It didn't stick to itself, it didn't fly off, it just smeared around on the parchment.

Holy shit man, I've never encountered resin from old flower that was un-collectable like that. I have a lot of experience with pressing flower that is 1-2 years old. However, my old flower has been immaculatey dried, cured and stored during that time. I find that material that would crystallize and and budder immediately when the flower was new is always pull-n-snap or shatter once the flower is 1-2 years old. It sounds like you've stored this material reasonably well yourself man. Which parchment are you using out of interest? I find that a lot of non-purpose made (ie: for rosin) parchments can be a PITA for collecting.

TL:DR If I end up with oil that is difficult to collect in the way you describe above, I place it on top of an ice pack and it becomes much more firm, allowing for easier collection.

BTW don't worry about the color of the rosin above. Old flower tends to yield rosin of this color, but I've made rosin from old flower that looks like this that tastes/works better than the rosin was when the flower was new and many of you guys were admiring pics of clear pretty rosin that I pressed from it. Color alone is not a good indicator of whether resin is good or not.

 

[Baron23]

Which parchment are you using out of interest? I find that a lot of non-purpose made (ie: for rosin) parchments can be a PITA for collecting.

Hello, my friend. Thanks for the reply. Yes, this flower was very well stored. I used Reynolds parchment. I really don't think it was the paper, but rather it just was something about this flower. Bottle tech in a seamless bag...I don't think it was the tech either.

I did dab some of it last night and while it doesn't have much flavor, it certainly had effects.

I'll take the parchment with goo stuck all over it and put it in a bag, boil it with ethy or milk (or a bit of both) and make tea out of it....one night when I have plenty of time to sleep! haha

I may do yet another "test" run with flower I don't mind experimenting with, but I'm about to move into trying to press some good, fresh, dank flower. I have Pineapple Skunk and some very nice GSC to try soon.

Cheers and I will just mark this up to....I dunno...wrong flower... and move on. Hopefully, it will never happen again. LOL

 

[felvapes]

Hi people
I have recently gotten into hair straightener rosin....
I now want to upgrade

I know that dab press is where I should be heading, but currently not wanting to spend that much....at a later date

So for now what is a decent yet budget press ppl recommend

I have been looking at a slug .33 and know some ppl do not like them, but for the price is it an okay press?

It looks okay for the cheaper price range, although I am only hair straightener experienced so would love some advice...

Thank you all in advance

 

[LesPlenty]

I am only hair straightener experienced

Great minds think alike, I have not long ago received my hair straightener in the mail but have not got around to trying it! for squishing, only melting some kief to make it sticky(messy). I also have been looking at the slug .33 and maybe an induction heater for it, I have ordered a IH kit to play with and hopefully learn a bit.
There are so many options for rosin presses it is hard to know where to start, too cheap a set up and a person might be put off altogether, but how much do I really have to spend to get a result worth sacrificing my hard grown buds to.

 

[herbivore21]

Hello, my friend. Thanks for the reply. Yes, this flower was very well stored. I used Reynolds parchment. I really don't think it was the paper, but rather it just was something about this flower. Bottle tech in a seamless bag...I don't think it was the tech either.

I did dab some of it last night and while it doesn't have much flavor, it certainly had effects.

I'll take the parchment with goo stuck all over it and put it in a bag, boil it with ethy or milk (or a bit of both) and make tea out of it....one night when I have plenty of time to sleep! haha

I may do yet another "test" run with flower I don't mind experimenting with, but I'm about to move into trying to press some good, fresh, dank flower. I have Pineapple Skunk and some very nice GSC to try soon.

Cheers and I will just mark this up to....I dunno...wrong flower... and move on. Hopefully, it will never happen again. LOL

Always glad to help my friend I think this flower is indeed just not the best for rosin purposes. Why that is may remain a mystery lol

BTW, I would advise not to soak parchment in ethanol to save the leftover dabs, I'd hate to think what you might pull out of parchment with a solvent like ethanol. Try to get the parchment on a frozen surface and see if the material becomes stable enough to collect the lion's share off your parchment. Using milk may be ok with the parchment, as the parchment is intended for culinary purposes, however I do wonder if it would require extended contact and heating of the milk to achieve the desired solvent action, which may also bring some parchment constituents along for the ride...

Hi people
I have recently gotten into hair straightener rosin....
I now want to upgrade

I know that dab press is where I should be heading, but currently not wanting to spend that much....at a later date

So for now what is a decent yet budget press ppl recommend

I have been looking at a slug .33 and know some ppl do not like them, but for the price is it an okay press?

It looks okay for the cheaper price range, although I am only hair straightener experienced so would love some advice...

Thank you all in advance

I've not used the slug .33 myself, but watching footage of it being used, it doesn't look very user friendly. TBH, you might have easier and better results with a hair straightener. A positive of the slug .33 is it allows you to press slightly larger amounts of flower with a 1t vise than what you could if it was just a vise with heated plates. However, the torch heating and requirement to use multiple hands and lack of meaningful temp measurement and control means that I wouldn't recommend it. Looks very time consuming and doesn't look easy to use. It'd make for frustrating results if you want to experiment with different temps or do any kind of fractional rosin pressing. I've noticed people who use it complaining about difficulty using it too. If you wanted to press more material than it can hold at once, repeated presses look very time consuming compared to a modded vise like I describe below.

TBH, you may even be able to achieve sufficient results sticking with a hair straightener. How are you applying pressure to your straightener? Also have you tried to measure the actual temp between the plates of your straightener with a stem thermometer or similar? It'd be good to hear more about your straightener technique to see if we can dial that in to get the desired results, rather than spending more on something that might give you similar results or just cause different frustrations to your current setup.

It is important to understand a bit more about your situation too. How much flower do you want to press at a time? How often? With some more info, it'll be easier to figure out the best solution for your needs

Great minds think alike, I have not long ago received my hair straightener in the mail but have not got around to trying it! for squishing, only melting some kief to make it sticky(messy). I also have been looking at the slug .33 and maybe an induction heater for it, I have ordered a IH kit to play with and hopefully learn a bit.
There are so many options for rosin presses it is hard to know where to start, too cheap a set up and a person might be put off altogether, but how much do I really have to spend to get a result worth sacrificing my hard grown buds to.

Pressing kief IME is not very fruitful. This may explain your results if they were disappointing. Kief is typically far too dry because of how granular it is (major exposure of surface areas leads to rapid drying) and often has little/no more resin content than the actual flower that it came from.

You come across to me as somebody who is apt with DIY projects man, so you might consider getting some nice big custom vise grips (shaped like rosin press plates and made from a sufficiently conductive metal, be sure to use some wooden insulators between the plates and your vise-grip mounts to keep the heat from getting into the vise itself) to attach to an appropriate vise. A 1t vise is great for pressing .5g of flower at a time for personal use, but more pressure and sufficiently sized plates will allow to press more at a time of course.

If you let me know how much flower you want to press at once, we can start to determine the pressure you'll want from the relevant vice

The final step is to drill holes in your vise-grip plates with a sufficient diameter to snugly house a soldering iron heater. Then you can find some cheap temp controlled soldering irons to insert into the newly drilled holes in your vise grip plates to heat them (I'm sure you'll know how to go about this ). As always, use a stem thermometer between the plates to measure temps. Do not rely on the temps on the dials of the soldering irons, that is not representative of the temp at the plates, as you may have guessed lol. I have to credit FC member Joel W. with this concept for small vise-based rosin presses, as he first came up with it AFAIK.

One final tip I wanted to mention here: Try not to think of pressing flowers into rosin as 'sacrificing your bud'. I only bother with the most resinous and pristinely grown, mature flower and all of it is intended for extraction (either into rosin or full melt dry sift/bubble hash). I never consider extraction to be any kind of sacrifice or waste. On the contrary; for me, vaping the same flower feels like the disappointing experience by comparison to dabbing good quality rosin from the same material!

When you make your rosin well (and believe me, anybody can do it!) it's typically much more enjoyable to dab that than to vape the original flower. Keep in mind that I'm talking about dabbing on SiC, obsidian and Sapphire surfaces here. Quartz can be hit and miss, depending on how you use it. However many folks are having wonderful results using quartz bangers and sapphire/ruby inserts/beads, the new availability axial heater coils for bangers will no doubt improve quartz bangers for enail use (check out 710coils who offers bangers with axial coils, I think that @just_tHe_fLu can assist with info about compatible inserts).

I personally suggest the D-nail SiC halo as the best affordable high end dabbing solution. Sadly, they're out of stock right now. My main point is if you guys wanna get the most out of consuming extracts, vaping extracts in a flower vaporizer is not comparable in any way to SiC/Sapphire/Obsidian/Ruby dabs.

Also remember that if you don't get all of the resin out of your flower when you press it, you can still grind up and vape the pressed puck of flower that is left over. Already pressed flower still tends to taste quite good too, unless you pressed too hot. As you can see, as with vaping flower, when pressing rosin, nothing ever needs to be wasted!

I should also tag my brother @SamuraiSam here as the man has great knowledge when it comes to various rosin presses are available. He is likely to have some additional ideas that I have missed!

 

[LesPlenty]

Thanks for the detailed response, looks like I need to do some more research. I have a good quality Record 1 ton vice to use, a hair straightener and a set of bubble bags I have no used yet. It also seems I would need to invest in something decent to vape it with, I have been looking at the NewVape Vrod as a possible contender as it can vape flower well also. The strain I am growing is called Incredible Bulk, I do not even know if this strain lends itself to squishing or not.
When it comes to concentrates I am a complete noob.