Tek Home Rosin Presses under $750 - School Me

[killick]

I was reading in the video comments about mounting and they clamped down to a work surface. Mine is in the garage and it's chilly out there, so now I'm looking at a way to mount it to a basement countertop... Oddly I have a couple of 3" Fir planks outside... wonder if the press mounted to one, with an extra 18" sticking out front, would be enough leverage to offset the pull weight? I'm pretty sure I can make this work with a little wood butchering...

If the press were to fail it would likely be the gearing between the jaws and the handle. There are 2 screws holding a plate onto the front, and this is where you can adjust the angle of the dangle, so to speak. I was assuming that a failure would most likely strip the gears, which is when the shiny electrical pieces would get moved to another press. I didn't check at all, but am assuming the plates could easily be swapped onto a larger press with a bit of futzing. Maybe not up to 20 ton, but likely a 3 ton arbor press wouldn't be unrealistic, although this is all pure SWAG...

 

[Bouldorado]

The press I ghetto-engineered is similar to that High5. Note how I secured it: bolting/clamping to a either a table or piece of plywood and then bracing against something heavier. A wall in the first picture and a couch in the 2nd. Best to keep it low so you can better utilize your body weight

It looks close enough I wouldn't be surprised if High5 used the same Chinese factory as Harbor Freight. In terms of durability, the HF version is made of shitty cast iron but it held up to even the heaviest rosin presses. Using a 2-3ft cheater pipe I was putting some torque through that pinion gear-- probably a good 200 ft/lbs on avg and I did 100s of presses.

The press did end up failing after it fell onto a concrete floor and part of the base cracked off (rendering it useless without a lot of repair work).

The weakness with my DIY press was the plates bending, and I didn't have the ability to fabricate thicker ones. That may change soon since I'm looking for a house with a garage, but that said, the High5 is not a bad deal for 300 bucks. With the press costing $60, I think it'd be difficult to put together a set of HD plates, a temperature controller, and heating elements for much less than the remaining $240.

I'm actually considering buying one.

 

[Pyr0]

Ugh My irwin clamp/hair straightner setup is starting to fail...
I'm quite tempted to pick up the pressie now just because of its small size and the fact that it doesn't need anchoring to a bench, but not sure about handing over all that cash without any reviews.
It's been reduced to £400 on Vapefiend so that works out to be approx 10 clamp setups lol

 

[Doktor Dub]

I would be sooo happy about some reviews of the Pressie from some Forummembers...

@VapeFiend.com Is there no way to let reputable UK Members test this Unit? Would buy it in a heartbeat with some reviews and it could be a hit in Europe, could even make comncentrates more accessible...

 

[Pyr0]

I still havent decided if I'm going to order it, but when I spoke to Vapefiend recently, they asked me if I would be willing to shoot a video myself...
Unfortunately I'm not lol

I read on their instagram feed that they were going to do a video,
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNhXhShBb36/
but when I mentioned it they told me that due to being in the UK they are unable to show the squishing of real buds/hash, which is what most people want to see.
I mentioned trying hops or the organic flowers they sell, but they said they already had and consistency/quality/quantity of the return wasn't worth it

[edit]
also spotted this:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNubBCegRV0/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNt2Ns3A2LX/

 

[Doktor Dub]

If there is a way to get a Pressie in my Hands and beeing able to return it, i would perhaps be willing to do a review Video... a ride to the Netherlands would make all legal issues go away....

 

[ddcbuds]

I seen a guy using this one the other day, his temps seem to go all over the place, he had to press over 300F to get any results. Appears to be rebranded.

https://www.instagram.com/coloradodabbs/

 

[grimeade]

https://m.alibaba.com/product/60501...ml?s=p&spm=a2706.7843299.1998817009.25.VESAsX

This link seems to be good to be true, right?

 

[SamuraiSam]

It looks close enough I wouldn't be surprised if High5 used the same Chinese factory as Harbor Freight. In terms of durability, the HF version is made of shitty cast iron but it held up to even the heaviest rosin presses. Using a 2-3ft cheater pipe I was putting some torque through that pinion gear-- probably a good 200 ft/lbs on avg and I did 100s of presses.

The press did end up failing after it fell onto a concrete floor and part of the base cracked off (rendering it useless without a lot of repair work).

The weakness with my DIY press was the plates bending, and I didn't have the ability to fabricate thicker ones. That may change soon since I'm looking for a house with a garage, but that said, the High5 is not a bad deal for 300 bucks. With the press costing $60, I think it'd be difficult to put together a set of HD plates, a temperature controller, and heating elements for much less than the remaining $240.

I'm actually considering buying one.

The arbor press you are using has a thicker mandrel and shouldn't have the same issues Ive seen with the High 5 plates.

I just ordered up some Timewizard Greyfox plates and look forward to sharing with you all WHY i think they are a superior design, soon. Im leaning away going with another Dake B10 like i bought last time as the quality was good but not great. i only need 10 tons and am looking at the Baileigh press thanks to @herbivore21 anyone else have thoughts on a 10 ton hydraulic press with a gauge?

 

[Bambu]

hello all great thread,, as most here , im very interested in making my own rosin,, been reading alot of the threads,, very interesting.

quick thanks to @herbivore21 for introducing me to all of this.

so down to buisness...
I'm interested in buying a press,, so many to choose,, many variables,, so any advice is gtreat
.
I would like to squish small amounts,, maybe 2-3 grms at a time , maybe a bit more,,
question..
if u have 7 grm of flower and wanted to squish it, is it better to do it in small parts (1-2g) or whole thing?
I dont intend to do anything other then flowers.
ive seen some of the machines posted,, pretty cool,, still unsure..

what about this? Anyone have any thoughts?

https://www.rosintechproducts.com/c...roducts/products/rtp-gold-series-manual-twist

 

[TankHankerous]

Has anyone heard of the nugsmasher? There are 2 versions being sold on amazon.com, the cheapest going for around $700-$1000. I saw a couple videos of it on youtube:

The website nugsmasher.com said made in usa and the more expensive one has a lifetime waranty

 

[Bouldorado]

I would like to squish small amounts,, maybe 2-3 grms at a time , maybe a bit more,,
question..
if u have 7 grm of flower and wanted to squish it, is it better to do it in small parts (1-2g) or whole thing?
I dont intend to do anything other then flowers.
ive seen some of the machines posted,, pretty cool,, still unsure..

what about this? Anyone have any thoughts?

https://www.rosintechproducts.com/c...roducts/products/rtp-gold-series-manual-twist

It's more efficient to press smaller amounts than to do one big press.

I wouldn't buy the press you linked. A screw mechanism is a really clunky way to apply pressure. It takes far longer to apply and release the pressure than an arbor press or clamp design. The longer the rosin is in contact with heat, the more the taste will degrade. You'll still get the yield but taste won't be good.

 

[Doktor Dub]

Any News on the Pressie or another solution available in Europe? Some recent and very sad events let me search for a quick and readily available DIY concentrate solution....

 

[SamuraiSam]

High guys,

I had mentioned some issues with the High Five rosin press earlier in this thread, to the point where I seriously do suggest wearing safety equipment while operating one. At the very least, wear safety goggles, and gloves! I apologize that I hadn't any proof on hand to substantiate my statement.

I recently had the opportunity to correct that deficiency and am now happy to share photographs of the damage caused by attempting to actually press rosin using the High Five rosin press, and the inexpensive Chinese made arbor press that it's equipped with.

You'll notice there are two toothed mandrels here. One is the original supplied with the press, and the other was a replacement provided by High Five.

After the second one broke, High Five declined to supply any additional warranty parts or attempt a repair, saying that too much pressure had been applied, so the warranty was void.

When it breaks, the tooth can be ejected in any direction. The tendency of these to shear is really scary.

I have used one other similar-looking arbor press based rosin machine, the Medisun press, and am happy to report that it does not exhibit any such issue. It is equipped with a much beefier press, with which you can use a long cheater bar to apply a TON of force when bolted down. This High Five press was used with far less force and failed spectacularly multiple times.

 

[herbivore21]

High guys,

I had mentioned some issues with the High Five rosin press earlier in this thread, to the point where I seriously do suggest wearing safety equipment while operating one. At the very least, wear safety goggles, and gloves! I apologize that I hadn't any proof on hand to substantiate my statement.

I recently had the opportunity to correct that deficiency and am now happy to share photographs of the damage caused by attempting to actually press rosin using the High Five rosin press, and the inexpensive Chinese made arbor press that it's equipped with.

You'll notice there are two toothed mandrels here. One is the original supplied with the press, and the other was a replacement provided by High Five.

After the second one broke, High Five declined to supply any additional warranty parts or attempt a repair, saying that too much pressure had been applied, so the warranty was void.

When it breaks, the tooth can be ejected in any direction. The tendency of these to shear is really scary.

I have used one other similar-looking arbor press based rosin machine, the Medisun press, and am happy to report that it does not exhibit any such issue. It is equipped with a much beefier press, with which you can use a long cheater bar to apply a TON of force when bolted down. This High Five press was used with far less force and failed spectacularly multiple times.

Out of interest, how much were you pressing the times when this happened man? That is terrible damage! @OldOyler this may be something to consider, especially if this happened while same was doing similarly small presses to what you'll be doing.

 

[Vapodudule]

rosin is danger indeed @SamuraiSam . This failure refers directly of quality of casting of this piece which is apparently under average. At sight the alloy is not heavy carbide iron which should be in this application.

I think the regular bench vice is perfect for the speed of operation and scale of pressure you can apply (with another tube extension you can apply a very big tork with your own weight). i know there is a position where i crush all the filters which i try now to avoid.

a proper quality vice bench costs less than 150$. they have a bolt system for fixing tool like preshaper and plates! Simple is better.

Let us remember the old greek "give me the right lever and i raise the earth"

 

[Hogni]

@SamuraiSam

Is HighFive kidding? To much pressure with an arbor? Obviously to much pressure for THIS arbor.
You didnt broke the arm. Thats the only part which normally could damaged by to much pressure.
But the teeth have to stand the power you can put on it by the pressure of the arm.
I would asked them for a technical explanation.
And what's the result? HighFive Rosin press ist trash? At least they have a shitty CS?

 

[Bouldorado]

@SamuraiSam
I would asked them for a technical explanation.

Haha the technical explanation is that they cheaped out on materials and did zero structural modeling to see how much force it could actually hold.

I doubt Samurai is the only one with this issue. Personally, I would look into filing a disputes with my CC...

 

[Danksta]

Guess I won't get getting the high5 after all...

The medisun looks pretty nice.

 

[SamuraiSam]

Out of interest, how much were you pressing the times when this happened man? That is terrible damage!

Haha the technical explanation is that they cheaped out on materials and did zero structural modeling to see how much force it could actually hold.

I doubt Samurai is the only one with this issue. Personally, I would look into filing a disputes with my CC...

Thankfully I didn't buy this press or break it personally. Its owned by my friend @buffaloglass and he's the one who had a bad time with it and High Five. He doesn't do forums to my knowledge, just instagram, so he hasn't shared the story online before.

Guess I won't get getting the high5 after all...

The medisun looks pretty nice.

If a manual press is what you're after the Medisun does work well. It's reliable, if you bolt it down and hang a 4-6 foot cheater bar off it, you can easily apply so much force to bend the slide-bar handle. You can take that off, and put say a Craftsman 1/2" extension handle on it (or other known decent brand of hardened steel thing) and that sucker wont bend, I was 180-200lbs hanging off the end of a four foot bar on the Medisun no problems. The press is NOT the issue with the Medisun:

The issue is with the heaters and heating pucks, and most specifically the poor transfer of heat from the former to the latter. The pucks are round hunks of aluminum round stock with a large pocket milled out of the middle.

That pocket has a 20mm e-nail barrel coil sitting loosely inside the hollow cavity and a single (or is it double?) Allen head set screw prevents it from sliding out. When you fire up the Medisun you'll want to have the coils set to at least 700F for quite a while and the coils will heat up red hot. It will take a long time for the aluminum pucks to get hot, because the design is horribly inefficient at transferring the heat from the heating coil, to the part that needs to heat and press against your herb/hash puck. I'd estimate it takes 20-30 minutes to heat up and as it reaches your desired puck temperature, due to that inefficient heat transfer, you have to dial down the temp at at the controller to reduce the target coil temp, as the aluminum heats up & the difference between coil temp and aluminum puck decreases over time.... and is affected by cold materials applied and pressed - you end up spending a significant amount of time adjusting the temperature at the coil, and IR gunning the temperature at the puck instead of cranking out rosin.

After using that set up for a few ounces of production I realized how much easier operation would be, how much more consistent performance could be, if the heater was selected properly, and the plate/platen made to fit it were designed properly. I have espoused the virtues of @Timewizard Greyfox's plates time and time again and now that I've had the chance to power them up and put 'em to use I'm happy to report that they're exactly what I hoped- fast warm up, even plate temperature, high level of craftsmanship: they work well and require no adjustment while in use.

 

[slozukimc]

Thankfully I didn't buy this press or break it personally. Its owned by my friend @buffaloglass and he's the one who had a bad time with it and High Five. He doesn't do forums to my knowledge, just instagram, so he hasn't shared the story online before.

If a manual press is what you're after the Medisun does work well. It's reliable, if you bolt it down and hang a 4-6 foot cheater bar off it, you can easily apply so much force to bend the slide-bar handle. You can take that off, and put say a Craftsman 1/2" extension handle on it (or other known decent brand of hardened steel thing) and that sucker wont bend, I was 180-200lbs hanging off the end of a four foot bar on the Medisun no problems. The press is NOT the issue with the Medisun:

The issue is with the heaters and heating pucks, and most specifically the poor transfer of heat from the former to the latter. The pucks are round hunks of aluminum round stock with a large pocket milled out of the middle.

That pocket has a 20mm e-nail barrel coil sitting loosely inside the hollow cavity and a single (or is it double?) Allen head set screw prevents it from sliding out. When you fire up the Medisun you'll want to have the coils set to at least 700F for quite a while and the coils will heat up red hot. It will take a long time for the aluminum pucks to get hot, because the design is horribly inefficient at transferring the heat from the heating coil, to the part that needs to heat and press against your herb/hash puck. I'd estimate it takes 20-30 minutes to heat up and as it reaches your desired puck temperature, due to that inefficient heat transfer, you have to dial down the temp at at the controller to reduce the target coil temp, as the aluminum heats up & the difference between coil temp and aluminum puck decreases over time.... and is affected by cold materials applied and pressed - you end up spending a significant amount of time adjusting the temperature at the coil, and IR gunning the temperature at the puck instead of cranking out rosin.

After using that set up for a few ounces of production I realized how much easier operation would be, how much more consistent performance could be, if the heater was selected properly, and the plate/platen made to fit it were designed properly. I have espoused the virtues of @Timewizard Greyfox's plates time and time again and now that I've had the chance to power them up and put 'em to use I'm happy to report that they're exactly what I hoped- fast warm up, even plate temperature, high level of craftsmanship: they work well and require no adjustment while in use.

Why even bother with an arbor press when you can have a 12 ton A frame hydraulic press from Harbor freight for 80 bucks?

 

[turk]

...my high five doesn't look like that.

 

[Vapodudule]

So the DYI presses are really capable under 750$.

This one all inclusive (pressure+plates+heat) is around the upper limit

http://www.dhgate.com/product/5-quo...-oil/393982915.html#s2-23-7b;searl|0881973637

Then you have the dh 3*5 plates with heat controller in Aluminium for 180-250$

http://www.dhgate.com/product/doubl...rosin/394294574.html#s1-0-1b;searl|3860417920

and you have to add pressure settlement good bench vice for 150$ or 10 ton capable small presses for 200-300$ with manometer for control.

So we are at 380-550$ budget where you can push the size of plates or press up somewhere.

The under 750$ budget could lend on a 20T (manometer?)+5*5 plates setup.

Rosin is another level up when you leave the hair straightener behind.

 

[Hogni]

Thanks for your advice.

But the first one - what a bs!?

5x5 plates....14000 psi....more than (?) 10 t....

Let's say it really has 10t -> 20.000 pounds ./. 25 square inch (over all) = 800psi/1200 psi (4x4)

Doesn't sound very serious....but would work if the rest is reliable.

BTW if you would construct your own press, how would it look and which technical parameter would it have?

 

[Vapodudule]

@Hogni Do not let the chinese statement dump you, this pressure is 1000 bar which should be the pressure state of the fluid! half false.

Well in fact in just had dump the hair straitghtener!

i just had cheap chinese 3*5 plates with heat + 10 tons with manometer.

To my calculus with these plates X (amount of bars of pressures on the surface of plates)=10*P (pressure in tons at manometer). So i have 100 bars at the plates for 10 tons.

I rediscover and redial my technique because things have changes folks! One squish session for now. Need bags and filters.