Has anyone bothered to make a concentrate pad like steel plate that fits into the crucible? I really love the performance of the unit when the pad squishes a full crucible of bud down, but hate the cleanup and how the pad gets rezzy after awhile.
If I were to ask a machinist buddy to make one for me, I should use 304 Stainless Steel, right?
I believe that a true concentrate pad needs to be woven with a random pattern of twists, turns and crossovers... to allow the pad to hang onto the volatilizing oils. The steel plate would cause the wax/oil/shatter to run toward the walls, which would allow residue to get between the plate and crucible floor. It will also allow the concentrate to run up the wall of the crucible.
This could entail a more complex clean-up.
You may be trading off the clean-up and making a more difficult eventual clean-up procedure.
A potential solution is to get 2 concentrate pads.
After a few sessions, drop one in a shot glass of 91% Iso for soaking, agitation, rinse and then drying.
This would allow you a spare to use, as the #1 pad is drying.
That is an easy 3 minute process, as opposed to a more rigorous procedure which would occur using a plate.