Proper humidity will increase yields. Check out two-way humidity packs like boveda brand. 62-65% RH is a sweet spot for most buds for pressing. There are cheaper ways to do it but I find the bovedas the least amount of work, at $1/ea and rechargable. Just put the nugs you plan on squishing in a mason jar along with the boveda (put a hygrometer in there too, to verify the RH) after a week sealed in the jar, even the densest nugs will have stable humidity.
Depending on how much yer wanting to press, there are a few options in the 300-500 range including the nugsmasher mini and other all-in-one units, dabpress DIY presses. 6-20 tons seems to be about what most people will need with the average laying in the middle.]
You could look up
@JCat's DIY rosin press, he saved quite a bit of money fabricating his own plates kit. Very awesome clean build.
Rosin Technique....Easy DIY Solventless
When I was using a hair straightener I got bad yields because I was using hand pressure, that got a little better taking them apart and attaching to erwin quick grip hand clamp, but it wasn't until I was actually putting serious pressure with a HF 12-ton press and 3x5 plates that I was squishing out 27% yields off 2 grams.
The good thing about the tech is even if you dont use enough pressure you can generally salvage whatever meds were left by grinding up the chips and vaping them or turning them into edibles.
Good luck it sounds like you're on the right track
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