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Tek Rosin Tek

herbivore21

Well-Known Member
Here's the thread for all of your discussion of The People's extraction method: Rosin Tek.

If you have any related questions please post them here!

I'll modify this post in the coming weeks with basic starting pointers for rosin initiates. For now, this is here to get the thread started :)

Rule for Rosin Tek Posts: Please specify temps and the setup (ie: vise or hydraulic press, which plates and heaters etc) that you have used when reporting results or discussing your situation in this thread. Temps must be as measured from the plates themselves (consider using a simple SS stem thermometer for this purpose, like what we use on an outdoor grill). Do not rely on your heater coil/soldering iron/cartridge thermocouples as the temp reported at the thermocouple is not the temp you are getting at the plates (which after all is what makes contact with your material).

If for any reason you do not have the requisite thermometer etc to record the temp from the plates, try as carefully as possible to explain what kind of heater setup you used (hair straightener, coil heated plates on a press etc) and provide any nominal temp measurement from the heater used (this is your temp as read on the heater controller for your coils, or on your hair straightener etc).

Where possible, please record your local Relative Humidity in the space you are storing/processing (this can be measured with a cheap product called a hygrometer, every cannabis user should have one). If you use boveda packs, you can assume that your RH in storage vessel will be ~62% (in the case that you are using a 62% boveda pack).


Here's an example of the rosin you can produce with very little learning and a little help from your friends in this thread:

5tJ2KLU.jpg


This was pressed in a 1 ton vise in 2 inch round plates (.6g nugs preballed by hand but not pre-pressed in any plates etc - stored at ~62% RH and processed in a room @ 70% RH) at 230f. This is taken at 300x zoom, where the contaminant has nowhere to hide :D

Here I am going to start discussing a few important factors in rosin pressing:

1. Your nug/hash must stay inside the pressing plates. Especially if you use a small press/press with small plates, you need to be sure that what you're squishing stays in place. One important way to achieve this is with folding tek. There are many folding teks out there, find one that suits you.
 
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This is going to be HUGE!!!
Hoping to see your techniques in here @herbivore21 to give us an idea of where we should strive to reach!

I am amazed at what i can do with a simple hair straightener and a vice!
Anything from this super crumbly product from high pressure, low temp pressings and then to various qualities of oil from different heats!
All products have different flavors and effects from the same material.

I am looking at building my own 10+ ton hydraulic press with heated plattens and will post my progress here.
 
This is going to be HUGE!!!
Hoping to see your techniques in here @herbivore21 to give us an idea of where we should strive to reach!

I am amazed at what i can do with a simple hair straightener and a vice!
Anything from this super crumbly product from high pressure, low temp pressings and then to various qualities of oil from different heats!
All products have different flavors and effects from the same material.

I am looking at building my own 10+ ton hydraulic press with heated plattens and will post my progress here.
Thank you for being the first to post in the extraction lab aside from myself brother!

A 10 ton press is a great idea for squishing moderate-large amounts at a time. I personally use a 1 ton custom made vise press with Joel W 2 inch plates. I can achieve great temp control anywhere from room temp to 500f.

The reason I wanted to say this is that so many folks do not believe that such a setup can be adequate and want to reach for a 10t press. For those who only squish for themselves and maybe one low dose patient who they are caregiver to, 1t presses are plenty. For those who want to press grams of rosin at a time, a 10t press with larger plates is going to be required.

As you say, a hair straightener and a vise or clamp can produce fantastic results, so long as you don't break the straightener!

I am fascinated to hear you mention that you get crumble from low temp pressings. How low temp? Is this a reliable outcome from all material that you have, or just the one cultivar? Do you live in dry conditions or were the flowers very dry when you received them?

For those wishing for a more shatter/pull and snap consistency, consider raising the temp to 230-240f.

While we're on the topic, let's lay down this ground rule for the Rosin Tek thread (I will add this to the OP).

Please specify temps and the setup that you have used when reporting results or discussing your situation in this thread. Temps must be as measured from the plates themselves (consider using a simple SS stem thermometer for this purpose, like what we use on an outdoor grill). Do not rely on your heater coil/soldering iron/cartridge thermocouples as the temp reported at the thermocouple is not the temp you are getting at the plates (which after all is what makes contact with your material).


I might squish some >1 year cured primo nugs and get some nice macro snaps to give you guys an idea of what to strive for. This will be some golden amber resin after that amount of time in cure. I might even get some nice snaps of the nug before :) You will not need to strive very hard to achieve the same results though, the beauty of rosin tek is that ALL of you can make rosin just as beautifully as I can. It is the democratic way of extracting :D

I will need to get to work creating threads for other kinds of extracts too, can't leave my beloved bubble hash without a thread now can we?
 
I will need to buy a good thermometer first to add accurate readings, will look into that!
The straightener i use has the max temp of 395 and i use it at the lowest setting, so maybe 200F?

When i get the crumbly rosin i have to heat the plates up in the vice and then turn them off and open the vice to expose the plates to air.
I wait for about a minute and then slowly squish the nug. If i get the temp just right i will see the yellow paste start to emerge slowly, i do not add nay extra heat.
Open up and scrape the goodness up!

The bud i am using is some Great White Shark that i grew at home.
Cured for 6 months so far and i have just added some 62% Boveda packs to their jars.

Here is a pic of what i am talking about. Excuse the mess i went into a pressing frenzy and have about 2g's of rosin already...:partyhat:
I just gently brushed my finger over it and it crumbled so easily!
Does it not look delicious??
CqcaIma.jpg


I will stay out now till i have a proper setup and can report accurate results!
Thanks for the tip about the 1 Ton press, that will make life easier for me!
 
I will need to buy a good thermometer first to add accurate readings, will look into that!
The straightener i use has the max temp of 395 and i use it at the lowest setting, so maybe 200F?

When i get the crumbly rosin i have to heat the plates up in the vice and then turn them off and open the vice to expose the plates to air.
I wait for about a minute and then slowly squish the nug. If i get the temp just right i will see the yellow paste start to emerge slowly, i do not add nay extra heat.
Open up and scrape the goodness up!

The bud i am using is some Great White Shark that i grew at home.
Cured for 6 months so far and i have just added some 62% Boveda packs to their jars.

Here is a pic of what i am talking about. Excuse the mess i went into a pressing frenzy and have about 2g's of rosin already...:partyhat:
I just gently brushed my finger over it and it crumbled so easily!
Does it not look delicious??
CqcaIma.jpg


I will stay out now till i have a proper setup and can report accurate results!
Thanks for the tip about the 1 Ton press, that will make life easier for me!
Man that looks wonderful!

Don't worry, you have done an admirable job of explaining your method despite not having a stem thermometer handy to take temps. Please do continue to report your findings :D

For anybody who has a similar DIY situation that cannot record some of the abovementioned variables - please just try to as fully explain how you made your rosin as possible as our friend @lazylathe has above :D

As previously promised, here are some before and after macro shots showing a nug and the rosin pressed from it at 300x zoom:

This was pressed at 194.72f (I even included the numbers after decimal lol) in my 1 ton press, which was applying the full pressure possible on the approx 1.2inch square puck.

This nug was dried impeccably and then cured for 6 months with 62% boveda packs (I'll squish the older stuff in another experiment). The room where the squish took place was at 66% RH.

I placed .78g of flower that I had hand pressed into a ball before placing into my parchment and pressing. It took me 45 seconds to apply the full pressure from my press as I turned the crank, I then left it another 30 seconds before finishing the press.

What resulted was a .11g slab of golden rosin, sappy and very shiney indeed! That equals a ~14% return from one low temp press.

I took a variety of very close up shots but sadly didn't get an unzoomed shot of the nug before squishing:

1. Close up of the nug (50x zoom)

rDkcaq7.jpg


2. Trichome coverage revealing close up shot of flower (300x zoom). Sorry for bad focus it is so hard to capture clear outlines of such closely spaced resin glands that are not immersed in oil due to their shape and optical properties.

2cZ4MSx.jpg


3. Rosin close up (300x zoom).

8WFvzcj.jpg


4. Rosin slightly magnified shot for reference (4x zoom):

6eleAbV.jpg
 
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I want to produce larger amounts of rosin out of moroccan hash slabs. Any advices for processing?

- can I directely press the slabs or is it better to break them up first and prepress them afterwards (seems a bit strange!?)?
- what are your favourite methods and temp ranges on the press for processing hash?
 
I want to produce larger amounts of rosin out of moroccan hash slabs. Any advices for processing?

- can I directely press the slabs or is it better to break them up first and prepress them afterwards (seems a bit strange!?)?
- what are your favourite methods and temp ranges on the press for processing hash?
Greetings my friend! For processing hash, a few points are important:

1. Hash pressing generally is better with lower temps than flower pressing. I press hash at incredibly low temps, as low as 160f!

2. You will need to use pressing screens. These blow out easily with a large amount of hash being pressed. Apply pressure very slowly, and do not use anywhere near as much pressure as you do with flowers. When you start to see rosin coming out of the hash, do not continue applying pressure. Get as much out as you can with minimal pressure and you'll save some rosin pouches! I use bubbleman's rosin bags for hash but I very, very rarely press hash (I have developed my own methods which produce better meds with the lower grade hashes, as you've seen examples of here and elsewhere). Others may have different recommendations.

No problem directly pressing the slabs either man!

This is really all there is to it, slow and gentle is the order of the day, at incredibly low temps!
 
Herb, thanks bro! May I ask which method you have developed for processing lower grade hash?

Lower temps, careful pressure and the need for pressing screens for producing rosin out of hash are generally known.

What are your experiences with pressing screens? Stainless, silk, cotton or nylon? What's the best material? And what's the best mesh width for processing hash IYO? Read a lot about, most say 25-45µ?


I've already talked about on FC. I'm developing some rosin presses with a friend from small DIY setups for private stash up to commercial ones up to 100t for the european market - I'm not involved in his buisiness, I'm just his consultant and beta tester - and he wants to offer his own pressing screens too.

BTW is it possible to start a evaluation here for important constructive aspects and customer needs?
 
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Herb, thanks bro! May I ask which method you have developed for processing lower grade hash?

Lower temps, careful pressure and the need for pressing screens for producing rosin out of hash are generally known.

What are your experiences with pressing screens? Stainless, silk, cotton or nylon? What's the best material? And what's the best mesh width for processing hash IYO? Read a lot about, most say 25-45µ?


I've already talked about on FC. I'm developing some rosin presses with a friend from small DIY setups for private stash up to commercial ones up to 100t for the european market - I'm not involved in his buisiness, I'm just his consultant and beta tester - and he wants to offer his own pressing screens too.

BTW is it possible to start a evaluation here for important constructive aspects and customer needs?
No problems friend :) For my processing methods for lower grade hash, that is not something that I am ready to share yet. However, in future when I am, you can bet that VA will be the place :biggrin:

I've used pieces of muslin (unbleached cotton sheet) as a screen with success, as well as the press headies rosin screens from bubblebags (can't actually recall the material on this one right now). Each have worked well. It is crucial in any case to use 25u or smaller mesh size to avoid anything but rosin coming through the screen. Some people might use larger pore sizes with hashes from screens that were of larger pore sizes with success of course. YMMV depending on what you're working with and the screens that were used when the hash was made.

As for the rosin presses, it would be great to see this happen man, there are not enough well produced, high quality presses on the market right now! :biggrin:
 
So I'm on this now...
Here is my first squish yesterday...

k75yVkQ.jpg


Iv realised I need more pressure less heat...
Although my straighteners are only set to 110c (230f ish I think), i seem to be loosing terps..

I am about to beging making a contraption...

My first main question is... how much pressure can I exert with a decent record vice, a scaffold pole, and some anger....???

Is this a possible way to go, or should I just spend money on a press...
How much are these plates from Joel that I keep seeing mentioned...???
And can I get them in the UK???
 
FAIK Joel is'nt offering these plates anymore. Pressure depends on the area of your used plates!?

If you can still wait a few months there'll come diy rosin plates for the European market.

Shame about the lack of availability for them plates.. Ill may make my own..
And I can't wait months, iv waited my whole life already....

I understand the relationship between force and suface area... so preferably I want as small as I can get away with...
With the vice method I could use a torque wrench to gauge my pressure as a reference point... But I image is just want as much as possible...
Cant have too much pressure right...???

Last night I squished with straighteners again, This time I had them on the lowest setting and switched them off 30 secs before squish...
(Scientifically accurate I know, but I'm just playing right now..)

Anyway I got far better results this time, more glassy, and far more tasty....
But took far more effort....
The colour stays the same though, maybe this is more to do with the age of my herbs used..
Fresher = more light goldern...???

I had to really fucking squish with all my effort to get this... im at my limits of man power now...
Cant work out if my hand squeeze is more or less powerful, than my body weight....

Anyway im having much fun with this... should have done it ages ago, rather than piss about with solvents, waiting times, and purging...
Cant wait to get my squish rig built...

I have you @herbivore21 to thank for this....
Thanks mate.....
 
Last night I squished with straighteners again, This time I had them on the lowest setting and switched them off 30 secs before squish...
Just curious... have you re-wired your straightener so that it goes to lower temps? The lowest mine goes is 300 and I know that is too high for squishing. My product always ends up rather burnt so I've given up on this method.

An associate of mine is a big rosin maker out in Washington. There was a writeup on him in the Sept/Oct 2016 Skunk magazine and, in it, said he had rewired his straightener with a dimmer so that it would go down to 140 degrees. I've no clue how to do this, however.
 
Just curious... have you re-wired your straightener so that it goes to lower temps? The lowest mine goes is 300 and I know that is too high for squishing. My product always ends up rather burnt so I've given up on this method.

An associate of mine is a big rosin maker out in Washington. There was a writeup on him in the Sept/Oct 2016 Skunk magazine and, in it, said he had rewired his straightener with a dimmer so that it would go down to 140 degrees. I've no clue how to do this, however.

No I havent rewired them... yet...
They are just my temporary squish tool untill I finish making my press...

Hence why I turned them off 30 secs before the squish... I think they are still too hot in the lowest setting... I'm aiming for abput 100c squish...
Lowest setting I have is 120c...

My first few didnt taste burnt, but was nowhere near as tasty as last night's squish...
And I got 0.8 from 0.39....
 
Just curious... have you re-wired your straightener so that it goes to lower temps? The lowest mine goes is 300 and I know that is too high for squishing. My product always ends up rather burnt so I've given up on this method.

An associate of mine is a big rosin maker out in Washington. There was a writeup on him in the Sept/Oct 2016 Skunk magazine and, in it, said he had rewired his straightener with a dimmer so that it would go down to 140 degrees. I've no clue how to do this, however.

Are they plugging the straightener into a lamp dimmer? Those have rotary dials or slides to control power. Plugged into one of those would allow more granular control of heat, and they are pretty cheap iirc.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Rosineer...6813&wl11=online&wl12=635681033&wl13=&veh=sem
 
Wait I just realised I can use a spare fan controller from my magic wardrobe.....
Although I dont think I need to just yet...
My straighteners on the lowest setting is about right...

Im so full of design ideas right now..
I can't decide the best method tp make my press...
Now im thinking of using a 10 ton trolly jack, and a piece of steel box section...
So the Jack will be pushing against itself..

Or should just buy a purpose built press???
 

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