Tek Making oil from African bush weed? (with pictures)

[bleak]

Hi all,

I'm about to start the process of making a medicinal oil. It will be used for eating and topical use only, I won't be smoking/vaping this oil. I'm hoping to get some advice from the knowledgeable FC community on how to get the best results with what I have available.

I'm in Kenya, and bush weed is really cheap. For US$100 I get a shopping bag stuffed full of herb. Rough guess, I'm getting at least 15 ounces for $100.

Tightvac and Herbalaire for scale.

Unfortunately it has a lot of seeds, but its also fairly resinous (I use it for vaping every day and it keeps me plenty stoned). The locals refer to this stuff as "Shash", apparently what I'm getting is an African landrace. My dealer says its from Tanzania, and is grown guerrilla-style (this explains the seeds)

Most people I know wouldn't call this "high grade" because of the seed content. But the resin is definitely in there, this stuff gets me HIGH!! Its similar to Thai sticks I've tried in Amsterdam - it looks and tastes like ditch weed, but it does pack a punch.

Until now, I've been cooking the herb into coconut oil or ghee using the standard technique (decarb the herb, grind it finely, add coconut oil and soy lecethin, cook on low heat for many hours). But my tolerance has gotten quite high, and I've been having to eat more and more coconut oil just to feel anything. Like I'm having to swallow 2 or 3 large tablespoons of the stuff which is both unpleasant and seems like a waste of coconut oil. Plus, I'd like to have a more concentrated oil to use for skin issues, burns etc.

Because of these reasons, I'm going to make a Rick Simpson-type oil. Surprisingly, I found a source of scientific grade 99.7% ISO in Kenya!

Around a month ago I put my collection of stems into the ISO. It was like a small shopping bag full of stems, about 1 years worth. I've been shaking the bottle every day for the last month, and the ISO has turned leaf green, so I suppose I'm off to a good start.

My next step is to remove the stems and then add the herb. This is particularly where I'm looking for advice and pointers.

Firstly I'm looking ways to remove at least some of the seeds (there are way too many to do it by hand). I'm thinking of decarbing the buds first to make them crispy, and then crush them gently to loosen the seeds. Hopefully with most of the seeds detached, I could just shake the container making the majority of seeds settle to the bottom. Has anyone tried this, or got a better suggestion on how to remove the seeds?

Secondly, how long should I leave the decarbed herb soaking in the ISO? I see many different opinions about this. I don't mind how it looks or tastes, I'm not worried about excess chlorophyll etc, I simply want to get the most possible medical benefits out of the herb. Some people say 10 minutes is enough, while others advocate a few weeks soaking time! I'm kind of thinking somewhere in the middle, like 1 week... any pointers?

Because I'm working with bush weed, I'm wondering if there is any value in doing a double extraction? So I would do the first extraction, throw away the herb, and then use the alcohol again for a second batch. But my concern is this: By the time I remove the second batch of herb, the alcohol will be laden with cannabanoids and I could be losing a lot of actives to residue. I'm worried it might be "diminishing returns", because as the alcohol gets darker and darker, there are more and more cannabanoids lost to residue on the plant material. I feel like eventually the buds would come out of the alcohol with MORE cannabanoids than they went in with Is my thinking correct here? It would be nice to make a double extraction to get the most benefit from the amount of ISO I have. But I also don't want to lose too many cannabanoids to the residue. Double extraction, yay or nay??


I'm planning to evap the ISO in a double boiler, on top of an electric hotplate on the lowest setting. But another idea popped up which is more environmentally friendly. Since we get a lot of hot sun on our balcony - Could I evap the ISO using the warmth of the sunlight? I know that direct sunlight can destroy cannabanoids so I'd have to shield it somehow, while allowing for airflow. Has anyone done this before, and how did you manage it?

Is there any general improvements I can make to my technique? Would love to hear your advice. Thanks in advance!

 

[farscaper]

wow... thats long... and its early... so I will make my response short.

if I were only using extract topically or orally only I would soak for a longer time. at room temp or slightly warmer (depending on your room... if in Africa you could be seeing 100 degree room temps) ive left buds and such to soak so long it turn the plant material white due to all the chlorophyll being leached out.

so you want max cannabinoids I say warm long soak. it will be harsh to vape... but eaten it should have max value.

plus if you get a jewelry loop or picket scope you can really look at the bud and see when the trichomes have been dissolved.

edit: the seeds being present in extraction wont hurt anything if its for topical and edible.

but u could save some for a rainy day.

 

[Bouldorado]

Hi all,


Because I'm working with bush weed, I'm wondering if there is any value in doing a double extraction? So I would do the first extraction, throw away the herb, and then use the alcohol again for a second batch. But my concern is this: By the time I remove the second batch of herb, the alcohol will be laden with cannabanoids and I could be losing a lot of actives to residue. I'm worried it might be "diminishing returns", because as the alcohol gets darker and darker, there are more and more cannabanoids lost to residue on the plant material. I feel like eventually the buds would come out of the alcohol with MORE cannabanoids than they went in with Is my thinking correct here? It would be nice to make a double extraction to get the most benefit from the amount of ISO I have. But I also don't want to lose too many cannabanoids to the residue. Double extraction, yay or nay??

You're correct in theory, but iso has a very high THC saturation point. As long as you have a decent method to separate the weed from the iso, it is definitely worth your while to do multiple extractions. Ideally you want some kind of press for this, but you can get away with just wringing the cheesecloth, or whatever you use to filter.

 

[vapordab]

I Think that for the best results you should do a dry sift to remove the seeds, and purify your product, and than from there, it will become tasty potent oil for any consumption method.

Another good option would be ice/bubble bag hash. Both methods would leave you with a seedless, potent product.

solvents will remove the hemp seed oil which is actually nutritional, but not good to vape or smoke ha

 

[bleak]

You're correct in theory, but iso has a very high THC saturation point. As long as you have a decent method to separate the weed from the iso, it is definitely worth your while to do multiple extractions. Ideally you want some kind of press for this, but you can get away with just wringing the cheesecloth, or whatever you use to filter.

Thanks for the answer on this, think I'll give it a shot. I'll buy a ricer to press the ISO out.

I Think that for the best results you should do a dry sift to remove the seeds, and purify your product, and than from there, it will become tasty potent oil for any consumption method.

I hadn't thought of doing a dry sift or water hash, thats a brilliant idea. I just did some reading online about dry sift, seems quite easy. It would give me a good base for making medicinal oil, as well as something for vaping

 

[Abysmal Vapor]

Seeds and alcohol will make the extract more waxy and unpleasant to vape.. I would try dry ice or dry sift ; and then alcohol extraction.. or bho tek seems to give better quality from seeded material than alcohol.

 

[vapordab]

Thanks for the answer on this, think I'll give it a shot. I'll buy a ricer to press the ISO out.



I hadn't thought of doing a dry sift or water hash, thats a brilliant idea. I just did some reading online about dry sift, seems quite easy. It would give me a good base for making medicinal oil, as well as something for vaping

Yeah dry sift can be a great option, you could even do a screen size just big enough to only seperate seeds if you wanted.

Use The hot sun to make your material extremely dry, so it can easily crumble. There are some good YouTube videos on the subject.

be sure to share your results with us. I had some great Durban poisen dry sift keif shipped from Africa. At the time I still smoked. It was one of the best smoking experiences to date. It was the only time that I had a concentrate that was made from a landrace grown with nothing but water and the sun.

rip silkroad.. (google)

 

[Caligula]

@herbivore21 looks like this guy needs your QWISO tek

 

[herbivore21]

What I would do depends on the price of ethanol there.

If you can buy 95% or so ethanol (the rest of content must be water!) at a good price, I would heartily (well headily hehe) recommend a frozen LWET extraction.

EDIT: Dry sift is obviously my recommendation also. Will take some labour, but will guarantee you the best possible high you can get from the weed in the form you have received it. You may even find that the resulting shatter you get will taste nice! When buds are not pristine, the key is to go for fullest extraction of the good stuff and none of the plant material. My instructions here will help you to do that

20-40 min wash of the kief in enough ethanol to be 3 inches above kief or so. Keep in freezer the entire wash time except for brief 20 second hard agitations every 5 minutes. Filter the kief out of the ethanol in a coffee filter preferably also inside your freezer. Then let this evaporate in your preferred way, you will have the best possible cleanliness of extraction with this method IME (in terms of not pulling out plant stuff/non cannabinoid stuff)! I would use remaining plant material for cooking/QWISO extractions with some winterization to clean up such a QWISO extraction. It is all about getting those cannabinoids out without the plant material.

Also, do not decarb buds if you want to vape the oil. Decarbed oil tastes nowhere near as nice. freeze all buds/kief/weed material before washing whichever way you go though, will minimize pickup of plant stuff in your solvent.

Double Edit: This thread has had me singing African Herbsman to myself all day lol

 

[bleak]

Thanks everyone, I've learned a lot from your input and suggestions.

Yesterday I did a dry sift test-run, and thought I'd share the results.

I got a silk screen from an art supplies store, but the mesh size isn't listed. They only had one kind, so I just went for it. Not much chance I'll find anything better in Kenya.

I used shake rather than buds, mostly leaf, seeds and tiny crumbles of buds. This is shake of bush weed, so its basically rubbish for most people. First I seperated the seeds from the plant material using a kitchen strainer that happened to be the right size mesh.

Heres what I used to sift the plant material, just a plastic container with the silk screen taped over. This was just temporary, I'll make a better version for the next run (suggestions welcome):

After 10 mins shaking:

Got around 1g or more, pretty impressive:

Heres some macro shots. Obviously there is some plant material and other junk in there, but I'm also surprised to see the amount of trichomes. Especially considering my starting material was total rubbish that wasn't even worth vaping.

Final product:

 

[vapordab]

Thanks everyone, I've learned a lot from your input and suggestions.

Yesterday I did a dry sift test-run, and thought I'd share the results.

I got a silk screen from an art supplies store, but the mesh size isn't listed. They only had one kind, so I just went for it. Not much chance I'll find anything better in Kenya.

I used shake rather than buds, mostly leaf, seeds and tiny crumbles of buds. This is shake of bush weed, so its basically rubbish for most people. First I seperated the seeds from the plant material using a kitchen strainer that happened to be the right size mesh.

Heres what I used to sift the plant material, just a plastic container with the silk screen taped over. This was just temporary, I'll make a better version for the next run (suggestions welcome):

After 10 mins shaking:

Got around 1g or more, pretty impressive:

Heres some macro shots. Obviously there is some plant material and other junk in there, but I'm also surprised to see the amount of trichomes. Especially considering my starting material was total rubbish that wasn't even worth vaping.

Final product:

it looks great!! Thanks for sharing! And if you wanted, this could easily be converted into some extremely potent oil, but I'm also sure that its very impressive as is!

 

[bleak]

it looks great!! Thanks for sharing! And if you wanted, this could easily be converted into some extremely potent oil, but I'm also sure that its very impressive as is!

I'm definitely going to play with @herbivore21's ice tek, to refine my dry sift into an oil. I'll do this with future (larger) batches as this was just a feasibility test

 

[herbivore21]

Excellent work man, looking forward to seeing the results!

 

[bleak]

Batch 2!

This time I put the weed in a large salad bowl. This gave me a large surface area of screen.



Next I turned it upside down over a metal bowl.


I shook gently for around 30 mins and got this:



I decided to put the whole thing in the freezer for an hour and then do another shake, which was worthwhile. Got another 3-4 grams on the second run.

 

[jules]

hello bleak great post. i was wondering how much hash did you get with those 15 ounces as i have access to pretty much the same weed

 

[Doktor Dub]

Any chance of an update how it played out the last Years?

 

[bleak]

hello bleak great post. i was wondering how much hash did you get with those 15 ounces as i have access to pretty much the same weed

Couldn't tell you amounts, as I made many different batches and didn't weigh most of them.

I also tried a bubble-bag setup with ice water. Didn't seem to get as much as the dry process. So if I was doing this again, I'd do the dry sift process.

Unfortunately I discovered mold on the bush weed, and stopped using it. Had to throw about 10 ounces in the compost. But if yours is mold free, try the dry sift and have fun!

 

[herbivore21]

Couldn't tell you amounts, as I made many different batches and didn't weigh most of them.

I also tried a bubble-bag setup with ice water. Didn't seem to get as much as the dry process. So if I was doing this again, I'd do the dry sift process.

Unfortunately I discovered mold on the bush weed, and stopped using it. Had to throw about 10 ounces in the compost. But if yours is mold free, try the dry sift and have fun!

Welcome back sir!

One thing you should be mindful of is that water hash, when done properly, is only going to shake off the resin glands from the flower. When I make bubble hash, I only get fully melting resin (see the hash in my avatar, that is a picture taken a 300x magnification!). I do not shake off pieces of plant material in my bubble hash technique. As such, I get a lesser yield than what traditional dry sifting would get me. This is because traditional sifting will break up the plant material more due to agitation of dry material. Some of those plant particulates will get into the final hash, increasing the weight but decreasing the quality of the hash.

I prefer water hash as the easiest way to get nothing but the resin off of the flower. Dry sift as you've done above will get higher yields, but that is because you are collecting more than just the resin

 

[jules]

thanks bleak i will try dry sift , i got the bubble bags and so far i get 5 grams out of a 100 grams of gambia s weed . it s pretty strong so i wouldn t mind getting a little more even if less potent as i m try to recreate that old school marrocan hash that i miss.
also, do people talk about the black magic strain in kenya or is it a myth ?
peace.

 

[herbivore21]

thanks bleak i will try dry sift , i got the bubble bags and so far i get 5 grams out of a 100 grams of gambia s weed . it s pretty strong so i wouldn t mind getting a little more even if less potent as i m try to recreate that old school marrocan hash that i miss.
also, do people talk about the black magic strain in kenya or is it a myth ?
peace.

Was that 5 grams that you got fully melting hash (hash that you could dab on a nail which leaves very little residue?), or was that hash still not full melt?

If it was not full melt, you simply did not do enough agitations and collections of your starting material. A lot of resin was probably left in those flowers you did a bubble run with if your results didn't melt almost fully, or fully when heated.

If it was full melt, that is not necessarily a bad yield! Especially if the flower you had was not especially resinous, even more especially if it was trim!

You will more quickly and easily be able to make hash that resembles the best of the old school traditional hash from Morroco et al. using bubble tek than dry sifting, simply because bubble hash is quicker and much less labor intensive. Both techniques require a lot of work/trial and error to master. If you have a bad result the first time with any method of extraction, giving up and trying another method is a path to frustration IME.

These methods are well known, but all of us who can isolate resin glands from our flower with ease like myself will tell you that learning to dial in your technique to suit your environmental conditions and the material that you are extracting from takes a lot of trial and error - if you can't persevere through some lackluster results at first, you're not likely to ever get good at extracting your resin using that given method.

I see folks giving up on a method of extraction after a poor first attempt all the time, even with simple extraction methods like rosin! I've seen such people go on to try their hand at infinitely more difficult and dangerous methods rather than trying to figure out what they got wrong in the method they've already tried!

I have to concede, I have wasted profound amounts of wonderful cannabis from errors in my early days learning to extract my medicine. Let me tell you, it is all worth it once you get to the stage that all you get from all of your bubble bags (except the contaminant bag lol) is full melt with no plant particulates, from your first agitation of the material all the way to your last. I know how to make high quality extracts using all of the solventless/solvent based methods, and nothing beats properly isolated resin glands (that is to say: hash with no plant material contaminants).

By the way, if you are not so concerned with getting full melt - that is you don't mind a bit of plant material in your hash, but want to replicate the beautiful soft pliable Morrocan traditional hashes - you can still achieve this more quickly and easily with bubble than with dry sift

 

[Flower of empathy]

shaking with a screen is far away from the traditional morrocan dry sifting - it's gently beaten with sticks, an art to get the right force and angle for best results (it's more vibration that breaks of the trichomes)
imo bubble hash lacks a bit of taste in comparison, some terps are watersoluble...
guess it depends on quantities and setup which technique is faster, i would say dry sifting bc i'm more experienced in that (and there are pollinators for lazy people)
Dry sieved material can also be cleaned a bit more with the simple old school sadhu sam method - put it in a glass of cold water and most of the plant matter will stay on top, trics will sink (to remove heavier stuff a cone shaped glass helps to get a removable fraction at the bottom).
But still - imo nothing beats the taste of FRESH hand rubbed charras (but it takes much more time, labour, practise and yields the least)

 

[herbivore21]

imo bubble hash lacks a bit of taste in comparison, some terps are watersoluble...

That is IME gonna vary a lot depending on technique man, my experience making full melt dry sift and bubble from the same flower across different varieties has not always born this out, it is down to temps used, contact time of material with water, the other properties of the water and the chemotype of the plant, among other variables.

Terps may be water soluble, but they may also volatilize out of the resin glands at room temperature just sitting on a screen bro. The key is managing the conditions you are in so that the water does not achieve solvency on the gland - scientists have changed the properties of solvents to prevent them for a very long time bro.

By the way, this principle of changing the properties of/taking advantage of the corresponding behaviors of solvents with resin is also how folks are making HTFSE and HCFSE these days too. Crystallization which allows this separation requires achieving a super-saturated state with the solvent and resin. Changing the temps of your solvent and solution is one way to facilitate the precipitation of this reaction.

shaking with a screen is far away from the traditional morrocan dry sifting - it's gently beaten with sticks, an art to get the right force and angle for best results (it's more vibration that breaks of the trichomes)

I understand this man. There are many ways to achieve quality dry sift. Different people in different places found different ways to get the agitation they wanted throughout history.

guess it depends on quantities and setup which technique is faster, i would say dry sifting bc i'm more experienced in that (and there are pollinators for lazy people)

Pollinators produce inferior quality hash man, in many cases the end product is not far from just being ground bud. When I make hash, I am talking about hash that fully melts when heated. Pollinators IME do not produce much, if any of that quality, and are far too easy to overagitate. I do not recommend pollinators at all.

I can do a whole bubble run from start to finish in 5-6 hours, and collect up to 10% or more yields of nothing but full melt hash from every bag and every wash (only given the right starting flower of course, the resin has to be there in the first place!). To get a maximum yield of nothing but 6 star full melt of the same quality from dry sifting, man, I'd have to take a lot of time off work!

Again, you need only look at my avatar and other pics around FC for evidence of the kind of medicine I'm making with the bubble hash method. IME, there is no publicly known way to produce that quality and quantity of hash anywhere near as quickly using dry sift methods.

Also it is true that sometimes, water hash and dry sift can produce better results than one another. IME, that is down to the variety and the way your starting material was grown. My current material produces a hash whose flavor and mouthfeel I prefer when I use bubble technique over dry sift. Of course, the reverse can just as easily be true with different varieties with different chemovars that are produced by different growers. This is why most of the famous full melt hash makers out there tend to use both dry sift and bubble (and increasingly rosin to ensure highest amount of dabbable product can be produced). There is a place for both techniques. Neither is entirely better than the other - but each has different advantages and disadvantages.

Nonetheless, if you wanna make a lesser quality, less melting hash, you don't have to worry as much about over agitating and can be downright careless with your technique and still get the results you seek. This means a major reduction in the labor time for both bubble and dry sift. This is likely to explain the difference between our experiences, if you are not aiming to produce only hash that fully melts in the first place, then our cases are apples and oranges.

Nonetheless IME, the better isolation of resin from plant contaminant is always more easily and quickly had from bubble. The level of difference between the ease and time involved in each method will vary depending on what you're working with and what you're aiming for.

The only publicly known way to get maximum yields of properly isolated resin glands with dry sift is to commit a lot of time to it compared to bubble tek though. This is what I was pointing out above. Less effort will gain better results with bubble in a shorter timeframe. This is because the water is doing some of the separation for you, not just the screens.

But still - imo nothing beats the taste of FRESH hand rubbed charras (but it takes much more time, labour, practise and yields the least)

I actually prefer cured (in a temp, humidity, light and oxygen controlled environment) over live resin personally with the material that I'm working with. Charas is by all accounts wonderful of course, but I'd also point out that I would only want to try it if the person who made it was wearing gloves! Long ago I vowed never to use hash that tastes or smells like the person who made it again!

 

[Doktor Dub]

@herbivore21 I have nothing to contribute, but thank you for your insights, information and all the time you dedicate to writing your great posts.

Have a nice day!

 

[Flower of empathy]

I actually prefer cured (in a temp, humidity, light and oxygen controlled environment) over live resin personally with the material that I'm working with. Charas is by all accounts wonderful of course, but I'd also point out that I would only want to try it if the person who made it was wearing gloves! Long ago I vowed never to use hash that tastes or smells like the person who made it again!

i've never heard or seen anyone using gloves for charras, what kind of glove do u mean? maybe i give it a try in a month but i doubt that it works as good as bare hands, it needs feeling...- oh yeah, it can be rough living in india, imagine standing with resin covered hands in a field while having diarrhea ...
But the main advantage of charras is that it's possible to get mostly mature tric heads of the bud while leaving the less stickier unmature on the plant, it's a thin line of force and friction...
Nice example for the difference of harvesting time is opposite land morocco - they harvest in the valleys earlier than on the mountains bc it's too dry at lower altitudes, so as a result the unmature resin of the valley plants makes a more dry powdry hash than the later harvested more oily and sticky types from the mountains (at least before those damn imported seeds infected those beatiful and most pinen rich genetics i know of)
Tbh it's almost 20 years ago that a local shop had pollinators to rent (with no speed adjust, so i used astep transformer) but after playing a while the results weren't so bad esp with a second separation step a la sadhu sam in a champange glass, so for quick processing of large quantities it's still a nice option imo...

Btw are there known measured values of the mechanical properties for trics out there? would also need temperature and harvesting time koefficents.. that would be the key to proper machine engineering...

 

[herbivore21]

@herbivore21 I have nothing to contribute, but thank you for your insights, information and all the time you dedicate to writing your great posts.

Have a nice day!

I'm always glad to contribute on this topic, there's never enough hash talk around here! Happy to have provided useful information for you my friend

i've never heard or seen anyone using gloves for charras, what kind of glove do u mean? maybe i give it a try in a month

I'd try some nitrile lab gloves (not powder coated). Be mindful that in the hot sun, your hands are gonna be clammy under the gloves, which might be relevant on your side of the pond - shouldn't be a problem for your charas though, just need to dry your hands after removing the gloves. Make sure that you get gloves that fit reasonably tight on your hands, since if the gloves are loose on your skin it is more difficult to do the rubbing motions that will work best for charas.

but i doubt that it works as good as bare hands, it needs feeling...

You can still feel things through nitrile gloves IME. Every temple ball that I've ever shared pics of here was pressed with gloves. I don't like hands touching my meds.

it needs feeling...- oh yeah, it can be rough living in india, imagine standing with resin covered hands in a field while having diarrhea

Oh man that scenario made me laugh out loud - now that is a true dilemma!

But the main advantage of charras is that it's possible to get mostly mature tric heads of the bud while leaving the less stickier unmature on the plant, it's a thin line of force and friction...

Most certainly, we can also also separate glands by maturity in this way with the different sized screens - the most mature glands will vary in size depending on the variety you are working with. If you were working with more equatorial narrow leaf varieties (I'd imagine the South of India might be a climate that would work for these), you may have had plants whose mature glands were still quite small. IME, broad leaf cultivars and hybrids usually yield the most mature resin in the 73u, 90u or 120u bag. Often, the equatorial varieties may give you the most mature, melty resin in a 25u or 45u bag.

I do wish I had regular access to charas man, I do prefer a high quality charas to contemporary live resin in theory. Nothing but respect to our traditional hashmaking forebears who developed the technique!

Nice example for the difference of harvesting time is opposite land morocco - they harvest in the valleys earlier than on the mountains bc it's too dry at lower altitudes, so as a result the unmature resin of the valley plants makes a more dry powdry hash than the later harvested more oily and sticky types from the mountains (at least before those damn imported seeds infected those beatiful and most pinen rich genetics i know of)

Man I am with you - it is a damned shame that the Morrocans started bringing in varieties from other parts of the world and contaminated their own renowned landraces. They still make wonderful hash, but this process of contamination of varieties has caused the Morrocans to lose a little bit of what made their product unique.

I do definitely prefer those more mature resins myself, mature terpene profiles are beautiful

Tbh it's almost 20 years ago that a local shop had pollinators to rent (with no speed adjust, so i used astep transformer) but after playing a while the results weren't so bad esp with a second separation step a la sadhu sam in a champange glass, so for quick processing of large quantities it's still a nice option imo...

Yup a variac would be ideal for this job, scientific variable transformers are best to squeeze the best results out of a pollinator. As I said though, I'm aiming for the very best and nothing but the best when I make hash.

The pollinator does not achieve results as what I get from bubble, even with the crude water hash separation method that you describe added. The problem with pollinators is that they can frequently break the plant material up too quickly. The further into the agitation you get with a pollinator, the lesser the quality due to this breakage and the more work you need to do to clean up. This is more of a problem without the water separation step you mention - which will mitigate the problem, depending on the temp of the water. Plant material can still stick to resin and sink in water, especially if the water is not very cold. Nonetheless, the water will help. Still, I'd just make bubble, since it can achieve a higher yield of the highest possible quality material more reliably and in the same sort of time.

Pollinators are IME more useful for those making lesser melting traditional hash and not aiming for something completely melty like I am.

Btw are there known measured values of the mechanical properties for trics out there? would also need temperature and harvesting time koefficents.. that would be the key to proper machine engineering...

These details are going to vary, since trichomes are incredibly different in shape, size and composition depending on how the plant is grown, the variety and epigenetic/environmental factors. Consider David Potters PhD thesis, he was a student of Skunkman Sam through GW Pharma. I've shared it around here before. I encourage you to read as many of these scientific sources of literature on cannabis as possible. IME, the vast majority of resources out there for concentrate making get a lot of the information wrong - we'll take the practice forward if we concentrate makers all start learning what science has to teach us about cannabis!

I have provided a link below for you my friend - it is a very long read!

http://www.gwpharm.com/uploads/finalfullthesisdjpotter.pdf