Custom Copper Nickel Vise and Arbor Jaws For Rosin Tech.

[Joel W.]

Sorry for the back to back, I just drilled 2 more sets of blocks this am and again I checked all 4 blocks. My irons slip in each hole both directions with no abnormalities seen and about .010" of play in each hole.. Still not sure what happened yet. . Must be slightly larger irons or I drilled a set wrong somewhere ..@herbivore21.

Edit: my irons all measure .315"

Mods feel free to merge these posts. I wanted to make sure they were seen.

 

[BoogerMan]

Hey man, tell me, does that digital thermometer/themocouple in your first pictures work well to measure temp?

BTW to each of you with Joel W grips and plates: Do you find that once the plates reach temp that they will stay at temp with the appropriate soldering iron? Or do you have to turn them off and on and fiddle with them get back to temp for every squish?

@Joel W. could I inquire how deep you drill the holes for the soldering irons? Cheers

Yeah the digital thermocouple seems to work really well. At least I think it does. I haven't really compared it to anything but when I touch it to my counter top it reads 70F which is the set heat temp of my house. So I'm assuming it is accurate enough for my needs I think I Paid < $20 for it on Amazon so it isn't anything fancy.

With my standard soldering irons, I set them to 350C. Heat up time takes around 45 minutes to an hour. It gets to 210-215F and stays there. Half the time I don't even check the temp before pressing because I know it is always at the right temp.

If you want to speed up heat up time, turn the soldering irons to 450C then drop them back down after about 10-15 minutes.

 

[herbivore21]

I've just finished making my own rosin press, using Joel W's plates! Great setup, had to drill out the soldering iron holes a little wider since the ones I found were thicker than the original holes. Otherwise, fit my vise perfectly (@Joel W. made these custom to fit my vise, even threw in the right bolts to attach the grips)!

Getting a steady 220f or thereabouts (temps here are in c) very easily, with temp changes by the degree being no difficulty at all

 

[CrazyDiamond]

NICE!!!!

 

[Joel W.]

So glad you are up and running, Those irons and controllers look sweet! Nice setup!

 

[herbivore21]

Cheers, it is a great setup for squishing with, especially now that I've bolted the vise down to a proper bench lol

Here's some of the fruit of my labor at 250x

 

[Joel W.]

Very pretty @herbivore21 . what temps?

@BoogerMan , I am wondering how hot the ram on the top block gets when your blocks are up to temp?

Edit. Two more sets of H press blocks shipped today. Buisy buisy...

 

[BoogerMan]

Very pretty @herbivore21 . what temps?

@BoogerMan , I am wondering how hot the ram on the top block gets when your blocks are up to temp?

Edit. Two more sets of H press blocks shipped today. Buisy buisy...

Not sure exactly the temp the ram gets but it isn't too hot at all. Barely warm if I remember correctly since the only heated parts touching the ram are the ends of the 4 bolts. I'll check it next time I use it (buying a car tonight and have to take my dog to the vet tomorrow after work so maybe I can test it Friday night). I'll report back soon

 

[BoogerMan]

Hey sorry about the delay. My ram got up to about 110F when my plates were about 210F. Not sure how accurate my ram reading is, but I can touch the ram and it doesn't hurt at all, whereas if I touch the CuNi plates it starts burning my finger almost instantly.

 

[Joel W.]

Thanks you Sir, 110f is not too bad I guess.

 

[herbivore21]

Very pretty @herbivore21 . what temps?

@BoogerMan , I am wondering how hot the ram on the top block gets when your blocks are up to temp?

Edit. Two more sets of H press blocks shipped today. Buisy buisy...

Greetings! I am getting a stable 212f to way beyond 300f which I can leave on all day (as measured from between the squishing plates).

I find that around 220f for flowers is ideal

I am definitely finding that this setup can bring down too much pressure to bear if I get too carried away twisting the crank (results in lower yields). It is all about a gradual (not snail pace, but slow-ish) application of pressure I am finding. I am sure many of you have noted this already!

@BoogerMan sounds like you're squish rig is going great

 

[Joel W.]

@herbivore21 I was looking at irons similar to yours and yours might be 100w rated instead of theses 60w?

If so, I may have to order some 100w irons and try to build some larger plates someday.

 

[herbivore21]

@herbivore21 I was looking at irons similar to yours and yours might be 100w rated instead of theses 60w?

If so, I may have to order some 100w irons and try to build some larger plates someday.

Mine are 60w rated, however, the wattage does not necessarily correlate to amount of heat possible to be created, because as with many things - it isn't the size, it is also how it is used lol

Mine could well and truly handle bigger plates and I would be more than happy to test any such plates out I am pretty confident that 4" diameter plates would still get plenty enough pressure here

 

[Joel W.]

Mine are 60w rated, however, the wattage does not necessarily correlate to amount of heat possible

Thinking on this a bit more, I am guessing most people work in a comfortable 70 degree room, where I am working out of an unheated shop in winter (35-40 degrees out) and this probably explains the higher temps you are seeing.

FYI, I will only be in the shop for 4 more days this year.

Also, many of the people buying my plates here, have zero posts on FC, so feedback on these seems slow but I do want to say thanks to everyone, for taking a chance on me and my jaws. I have really enjoy making them so far.

 

[Joel W.]

Fresh set of Bolton- bolt on vise jaws going out this morning.

 

[herbivore21]

So stoked to hear people are seeking you out for these plates bro, you deserve it a thousand times over!

I have tweaked the positioning of my irons in the plates and now I can get a super easy temp controlled squish from a stable 200f upwards (I find 200f with high pressure slowly applied gives best possible squishes ). Loving my new squish machine so much I haven't yet made more full melt (but there'll be more of that to come lol, it is so nice mixing the two together - I'll have more dab sundae pics to come!)

 

[One619love]

I am one of the ones without any posts on this site but wanted to take a minute and applaud Joel on his plates. I have mine hooked up to my 20 ton and they work well. Well worth the money. Thanks again Joel.


John

 

[Joel W.]

Thank you Sir! And welcome to FC.

 

[herbivore21]

Glad to see another satisfied customer!

I got my hands on my latest meds a little while back, haven't made full melt but squished some rosin from this stuff at 195f in my vice, getting some wonderful stuff back that tastes super fruity!

I have noticed that the strain cluster bomb has a fruity (orange) and herby (sorta like sage) taste when it is a week short of optimum resin maturity. When that extra week of growth gets to take place, it becomes much creamier tasting and smelling. Yields are similar at both junctures though.

Moreover, I have noticed that nugs that I cure out more have more of a skunky, creamy flavor. Those which are squished after very little/no cure have a more sharp hit to the throat and a herbier, plantier taste (like the smell of fresh cut grass).

I think the difference with solventless teks is that if you want to make something pretty and consistent, you need to pay very close attention to the state of the resin on the plant. Whereas with solvents, we get a more uniform result (with less of the flavor profile, for example the same cluster bomb flowers only come out in a solvent extract that has an orange flavor!) even from different material since there is that similar oxidative degradation happening to all solvent extracts during the purge.

Loving my new squish setup, I generally squish a days worth of meds each morning now.

By the way people, if you scoop a bunch of wand/gong/stem hash from your flower vapes, when you have a large amount - squish it in a hash screen (I used muslin cloth). I have this amazing runny red oil cleaner than sublimate from my old sub that dabs up a treat and puts my ass to sleep more than anything else I've ever made! Solventless AVB oil is the next thing I need to get working!!!

 

[KittensTasteYummy]

I was going to pre-order from the next set of D-Nail heat-presses made available... but wow, I'm glad I found this thread before then! What you guys have come up with is so much better, bloody brilliant! A couple of months from now after I've got my D-Nail DIY completed, another side project finished, & have purchased an appropriate vice, I'll definitely be back on here ordering my very own @Joel W. plates!

I've been considering moving to a non-friendly state towards the end of the year. Without the available & abundant source of concentrates currently available to me in Southern California, I would need to find an alternative! Assuming I could get my hands on some decent enough buds (eventually grow my own), this looks like it could be my ticket to ride! [Not that I wouldn't want to use this right now! The abundance of affordable, high quality buds available @ local dispensaries makes the prospect of enjoying some high quality (& way cheaper than market price) rosin very real indeed!]

@herbivore21 I like both the look and performance of those irons, I'm going to be taking a close look at them or very similar models for my press! Beautiful setup man!

Thanks for making this so easy everyone (especially Joel W.)! Your product links, reviews, designs, and examples, are fantastic! Other than taking the time to study up on the topic/processes and actually purchase the components, you all have done my work for me (though I suppose if someone also wants to purchase the components for me I wouldn't complain to loudly, he he)!

 

[KittensTasteYummy]

I'm almost surprised no one has made this by sticking a couple of cheaper PID's into an aluminum case and wiring them up to a couple of soldering irons! Seems like it could be a cheaper, more compact, and cooler looking option than spending a ton of $$, on high end irons w/ controllers. There are even PIDs now that have multi-channels and could as such handle heating two irons at once.

I'm seriously going to consider buying PID's and making my own soldering iron controllers paired together in one case.

If I wanted to get really crazy I could even make a small control box with 3 PID's. The first would be D-Nail's PID to use with my enail, and the two others would be used to control my heat vice irons. If I had all the connections and cables coming out the back of the control box with three beautifully aligned PID's in the front, it would look really cool!

 

[Joel W.]

@KittensTasteYummy These are adjustable soldering irons, they do not need a PID controller. I can easily dial in temps within a degree or two with the dials on the irons..

You may want to check out "cartridge heaters" for use with PID's or dimmers.

Sounds like a fun project though..

 

[KittensTasteYummy]

I was actually refering to @herbivore21 's setup. I noticed his soldering irons were connected to controllers and those babies run like $150 a pop.

I also want a nice accurate digital setup, nothing analog.

Maybe I'm using the incorrect terminology but I've used a soldering iron hooked up to a PID before. It works and is easy if you want digital controls.

 

[Joel W.]

Ok, Yes. Those are the digital soldering irons. I have not used them yet but @herbivore21 and @BoogerMan both have different types of digital irons. I will let them chime in on performance.

 

[KittensTasteYummy]

Yeah, sorry I didn't realize I needed to say Digital, I figured context spelled it out.

I wasn't concerned with performance, I know they work great. I was just commenting that the same type of unit could be assembled for way cheaper if you did it yourself.