Herb Grinders

[Silat]

First time making brownies tonight, using decent quality trim. Lawd show me the way to do this right!

Do not forget to decarb: http://herb.co/decarboxylation/

 

[Aimless Ryan]

Don't forget to bring a towel.

 

[biohacker]

Just curious why there isn't any love for Mendo Mulcher grinders on here? Everything is SLX, Kannastor, SC, or SCS but apparently Mendo Mulcher's are incredible and have TWICE the number of teeth of most commercial grinders and are perfect for vaporizing? They aren't cheap, but I just why more people don't buy them. I know @Stu loves his and has lasted for YEARS, so I think it's time for me to search and check out the score for myself!

I ordered a mendo mulcher around 6 months ago, cost me an arm and a leg to get it to the UK!

I havent used my space case since i got it though, its the best grinder ive had hands down..

But then this...does Kannastor have anodizing? Never seen this black stuff unless it was on a sharpstone:

I have about three mendo mulchers and they are great grinders with a consequential flaw. After grinding with a mendo just be careful not to touch your face until you wash your hands or you will have dirty black smudges from the bare aluminum on your face. For me, mendo grinders not having anodizing is a big hit against owning a mendo. For this reason I won't buy an aluminum grinder that does not have anodizing.

Is my mendo mulcher fake? I get an odd metallic build up on my hands when I use it really hard(But only when it gets stuck from over packing and I have to really crank on it). Maybe it has something to do with the silver ring I have and a bunch of hand/metallic oils mixing? All I could find on aluminum oxidizing like that was some thread on an engineering forum. I can't remember if this started before or after I started wearing the ring. I bought the grinder at a headshop a while back so I can't really be sure of it's authenticity.

 

[flotntoke]

Love my little Mendo. Have a 1 3/4" I use for travel and testing new stuff. Do like it better than my similar MFLB (not finishing, just an older little one) and better than my little Kannastor.

Lately the Kannastor has been in my travel bag as it does look prettier, but the little Mendo does a better job. Thanks for reminding me!! Been meaning to switch that out, but always forget until I'm out and realize I have the wrong one with me.

 

[gonzorelli777]

Yeah, as far as I understand it, freezing your grinder or putting a coin in the storage chamber above the kief screen only increases the amount of plant matter in the kief chamber, not actual kief. There's no special "trick" to getting more kief other than grinding higher quality material.

I actually prefer just collecting a very small amount of the best kief possible from each grinding session. It takes longer to build up but it is a very high quality kief.

I prefer my kief to come from a mixture of strains, it is a less pure flavor but more interesting in my opinion. And the effect tends to be much stronger in my experience.

Both the Space Case and the SLX have small mesh, high quality kief screens. I have heard the SCS screens have switched to a larger mesh size over time but I have never used one so I can't say for sure.

I've always wondered about the whole coin in the chamber thing...I never did it as I didn't want to risk chipping the interior of the grinder. I didn't look into relative hardness of the materials involved, but to my mind, rattling a metal object around inside a metal chamber with broken up herb can't be the best idea man has had since fire. Am I totally off-base there?

The kif from the SC screen really is so clean, I managed to accumulate a reasonable amount last night, but loaded it all into a final J before bed. Yes, a J. I'm still virginally unvaped for now, but not for long!

Brownie experiment got postponed. Sigh.

 

[cybrguy]

best idea man has had since fire

Well, if that is really what you are after than it has to be pizza, right? Or chocolate...

 

[gonzorelli777]

They're definitely on the shortlist.

 

[Vapor_Eyes]

I've always wondered about the whole coin in the chamber thing...I never did it as I didn't want to risk chipping the interior of the grinder. I didn't look into relative hardness of the materials involved, but to my mind, rattling a metal object around inside a metal chamber with broken up herb can't be the best idea man has had since fire. Am I totally off-base there?

You definitely don't want to use a coin with the SLX as it will scratch up the nonstick coating. Personally I wouldn't use a coin with any grinder. There is definitely a risk of damaging the grinder, and for basically no benefit.

 

[biohacker]

Never thought i'd say this, but as much as I was averse to coatings/anodizing due to chipping/flaking/scratching, I will now never buy a grinder without it!

 

[cannabis.pro]

Just curious why there isn't any love for Mendo Mulcher grinders on here? Everything is SLX, Kannastor, SC, or SCS but apparently Mendo Mulcher's are incredible and have TWICE the number of teeth of most commercial grinders and are perfect for vaporizing? They aren't cheap, but I just why more people don't buy them. I know @Stu loves his and has lasted for YEARS, so I think it's time for me to search and check out the score for myself!

I have no idea either. My favorite is the Mini 1.5" two piece and the 2.25" 4 Piece. Do my best to keep the price on them as low as possible at 420EDC. I prefer to be coating and anodize free for my grinding surfaces and won't touch any imported grinder.

 

[flotntoke]

I've always wondered about the whole coin in the chamber thing...I never did it as I didn't want to risk chipping the interior of the grinder. I didn't look into relative hardness of the materials involved, but to my mind, rattling a metal object around inside a metal chamber with broken up herb can't be the best idea man has had since fire. Am I totally off-base there?

The kif from the SC screen really is so clean, I managed to accumulate a reasonable amount last night, but loaded it all into a final J before bed. Yes, a J. I'm still virginally unvaped for now, but not for long!

Brownie experiment got postponed. Sigh.

I don't 4pc much anymore, but when I did I found a guitar pick to work almost as well as a coin to have something sliding around in there to knock the ground around and drop more kief. Can't really say it was worthwhile. I often wondered if this was one of those things us stoners came up with that didn't really do much but make you feel better.

I have no idea either. My favorite is the Mini 1.5" two piece and the 2.25" 4 Piece. Do my best to keep the price on them as low as possible at 420EDC. I prefer to be coating and anodize free for my grinding surfaces and won't touch any imported grinder.

Glad to see you carry MM. Thanks!!

 

[biohacker]

I prefer to be coating and anodize free for my grinding surfaces and won't touch any imported grinder.

What do you think about the "black stuff" reported on these mendo's and coating/anodize free grinders? There is also a paper taste that can be done to show this, by grinding pieces of paper, and they come out with black shit on them?

 

[invertedisdead]

I don't see how it could produce any kind of residue beyond initial residual oils from machining.

 

[biohacker]

I don't see how it could produce any kind of residue beyond initial residual oils from machining.

They do, even after cleaning...something about that raw aluminum oxidizing...mendo's are famous from it from my searching in this thread.

I've also noticed this back in the day with sharpstone.

 

[cannabis.pro]

What do you think about the "black stuff" reported on these mendo's and coating/anodize free grinders? There is also a paper taste that can be done to show this, by grinding pieces of paper, and they come out with black shit on them?

Alumina which I'm not very concerned about unless I work in an aluminum factory and am inhaling it constantly for hours at a time day in day out. Plant matter breaks down easy in a grinder whereas paper acts as sand paper basically. You can get the same thing from the bottom of a soda can if you rub it down with paper.

I don't see how it could produce any kind of residue beyond initial residual oils from machining.

They should be cleaned thoroughly when brand new prior to first use for this reason, residual oils.

 

[invertedisdead]

They do, even after cleaning...something about that raw aluminum oxidizing...mendo's are famous from it from my searching in this thread.

I've also noticed this back in the day with sharpstone.

Oxidizing from what? THCA?

 

[biohacker]

Oxidizing from what? THCA?

I don't think it's from the weed, and it's been talked about on this forum, including the "black dust" in the Supreme thread. I don't know WTF it is but I don't like black dust so prefer to stick with the anodized like @steama. It provides less sticking as well.

 

[cannabis.pro]

It's Aluminum Oxide aka Alumina, it's a thin coating of protection naturally occurring with aluminum.

 

[biohacker]

It's Aluminum Oxide aka Alumina, it's a thin coating of protection naturally occurring with aluminum.

THANK YOU!

 

[invertedisdead]

It's Aluminum Oxide aka Alumina, it's a thin coating of protection naturally occurring with aluminum.

I'm familiar with alumina as I vaporize concentrates off that surface frequently. However, I'm still not understanding the connection to it and black dust. The only thing black on my alumina donuts is residual plant waxes and lipids that remain after the active cannabinoids have been vaporized. With a dry fire they turn white as new again. Why would a grinder be releasing alumina particulate In the form of black dust?

Maybe I'll have to test my grinders.

 

[biohacker]

Why would a grinder be releasing alumina particulate In the form of black dust?

I dug this up from the Supreme thread to help you understand. Hope it helps.

Then i did a bit of reading up on aluminum and discovered that unless we can find a high temp, safe coating, we will always run into the black ring at the end of the silicone.
This is due to the fact that aluminum oxidizes in air and it is this oxide layer that actually protects the aluminum from the environment it is in.

So polishing it will make no difference since the surface will oxidize and we will start to rub off the oxide layer each time we insert the tube. Even when the oxide layer is rubbed off it will form again to cover the exposed aluminum.

My suggestion is to either switch to a glass tube like the Vapolution straw or to source some thin walled Stainless Steel tubing. Any of these changes will prevent that dark ring but will also casue you to use the S3 slightly differently due to the different heat properties of the new materials.

The only way to remove this process is by Anodizing the tube.

So in conclusion, the oxide layer we see being deposited on the silicone is SAFE.

Aluminum has a Health rating of 1 which means:

- Exposure would cause irritation with only minor residual injury and usually NO treatment is given.
- Irritation or minor reversible injury possible.

The Permissible Exposure limit is:
- 15mg/m3 Total dust
- 5mg/m3 respirable fraction

So from this we can see we will need an enormous amount of this dust to create any kind of concern!

Thanks @lazylathe for doing the research!

 

[invertedisdead]

So do parts made from Alumina release particulate aluminum oxide? Or only parts made from aluminum?

 

[gonzorelli777]

I dug this up from the Supreme thread to help you understand. Hope it helps.



Thanks @lazylathe for doing the research!

Thanks @lazylathe for doing the digging, and to @biohacker for remembering his/her post!

Good stuff to know.

 

[Vapor_Eyes]

Thanks @biohacker for bringing up the issue in the first place, as well as giving us additional info.

I always appreciate your input and perspective.

 

[biohacker]

Thanks @biohacker for bringing up the issue in the first place, as well as giving us additional info.

I always appreciate your input and perspective.

THANK YOU!! Likewise! You are a true asset to this community!