Rosin Technique....Easy DIY Solventless

[davesmith]

Just to say I'm enjoying the slick paper as my paper at the moment. Seems pretty sturdy for my straighteners and vise

 

[matthend]

@davesmith i would agree it is by far the sturdiest, and also makes collection a breeze for even the gooiest rosin. Do you see a big difference in the ending puck size between the slick paper and parchment? This is where my issue comes into play. I am wondering if the general slickness of the slick paper is not providing as much friction when I am squishing, and thus allowing the puck to expand much more than when using parchment.

 

[shredder]

Hi guys, I just set up a 20 ton HF press, and I'm using 5x3 cage style plates from low temp.

I've found the heater control is off. It's in centegrade, but at what would be 200°F the rosin came out dark. I turned it down 10degrees C to get more blond ish rosin.

But the pucks have been a problem. They're super thin, and stick to the paper like glue. And they seem very sticky with resin. I haven't tried repressing because they're so hard to handle.

Herb is super silver Haze about 4 months old and well cured. Stored with boveda packs.

Anyone seen this? Also it's about in the low 50's here with rain. So high humidity. Could this cause puck problems?

The slick sheets were worse than gormets choice brand unbleached parchment. The pucks in the sheets expanded crazy big. I'll have to save slick sheets for when I use a bag. First I'll dial this in with nugs tho. I may have used too much pressure, anyone?

I actually liked the unbleached better in my vise and hair straightener as well.

I'm pre squishing buds by hand, maybe .5 gr to 1gr, then flattened in a taco shells press.

Press time about a minute, at what seems like, medium high pressure. No way maxed out. But no pressure gauge, yet anyway.

Yields so so (17%) but I'm real new with this, and not close to dialing it in.

 

[Hogni]

Regarding discussion on optimal psi. What are best pressures for pressuring flowers or hash in your current experience?
There are so much different numbers all around and epxperiences are growing with time.
Are there any commercial rosin producers who would share their experiences?

 

[shredder]

Regarding discussion on optimal psi. What are best pressures for pressuring flowers or hash in your current experience?
There are so much different numbers all around and epxperiences are growing with time.
Are there any commercial rosin producers who would share their experiences?

I've found it really does depend on many variables. Its almost like whats the best way to drive your car, it depends. What your pressing, temps, humidity, and so on. And folks are using anything from hair straighteners to industrial presses, and I think most are pressing good quality rosin.

I've recently evolved from a hair straightener, to a hair straightener in a vise, to a twenty ton press and heated plates. They all produced great product. Perhaps focus on your budget, space, and desired amounts, then supply up accordingly.

Temps will vary as well, but generally I've read from a low of around 180F to the mid 200's F. I use 200F as a base or starting point. Higher temps from say, hair straighteners, require less press time due to higher heat and less pressure. A large press and lower heat requires longer presses. It's heat and pressure that's required and those exact parameters are dependent on your equipment and materials.

Some of my best advice came from reading various forums, including this one, and from you tube videos.

 

[Hogni]

Thank you very much for your reply. But my question was just regarding to pressure (psi).
Of course I meant only presses which can effort the necessary pressure, not a hair straightener, may be even with a clamp.

It's just a question to clear the calculation of pressing area of plates in relation to pressure.
I've read a lot of stuff and watched many vids. Of course I've my own experiences with setups for some private stash.

I have read a lot of numbers 1000, 2000-4000, 4000-6000 psi. Have read that 1000 psi could be too less and more than 4000 could decreases amount of yield and/or quality.
If you look at offered (DIY-)presses and calculate the psi of the different setups they all vary.

I intend to construct my own (semi-)professionell rosin press and dont neither want a - unnecessary more expensive - overkill nor an underperforming setup. That's the reason for my question.

 

[PPN]

Pressed some very nice moroccan kief today, stickier and flavorfull, previous was more dry. Surprisingly yield was pretty similar but with this one I got all the goodies out in 1 press, the dry kief took 2 presses to achieve a whole extraction. Here the 2nd press yield like a poor 2nd flower press.

Although the taste is greater, more flavorfull, fruity and complex than for my previous one which was tasted like basic hash without any fruity and fresh flavor.

 

[shredder]

Hi guys, I just set up a 20 ton HF press, and I'm using 5x3 cage style plates from low temp.

I've found the heater control is off. It's in centegrade, but at what would be 200°F the rosin came out dark. I turned it down 10degrees C to get more blond ish rosin.

But the pucks have been a problem. They're super thin, and stick to the paper like glue. And they seem very sticky with resin. I haven't tried repressing because they're so hard to handle.

Herb is super silver Haze about 4 months old and well cured. Stored with boveda packs.

Anyone seen this? Also it's about in the low 50's here with rain. So high humidity. Could this cause puck problems?

The slick sheets were worse than gormets choice brand unbleached parchment. The pucks in the sheets expanded crazy big. I'll have to save slick sheets for when I use a bag. First I'll dial this in with nugs tho. I may have used too much pressure, anyone?

I actually liked the unbleached better in my vise and hair straightener as well.

I'm pre squishing buds by hand, maybe .5 gr to 1gr, then flattened in a taco shells press.

Press time about a minute, at what seems like, medium high pressure. No way maxed out. But no pressure gauge, yet anyway.

Yields so so (17%) but I'm real new with this, and not close to dialing it in.

I'm getting better with my new press, in baby steps, lol. I now think the temp of the controler is accurate. And I slowed down my process. I'm taking 30 seconds just to warm the herb with very little pressure, then slowly ramping up the pressure for up to 2 minutes at 200 degrees F.

I started using directional folding as well. At first my pressed chips had rosin all the way around the edges. For one I was pressing too hard squeezing herb into the oil, so with less pressure and directional folding my yields are becoming more consistent. Still though no better than 17.7%. I havn't hit that magic 20% that I read about so much.

I've also started making gooey rosin into butter, or is that budder? I warm it in parchment with my hands, then whip it with a dab tool. It seems easier to work with like this, and I'm not sure but it seems to have brought out more terpenes.

Pressed some very nice moroccan kief today, stickier and flavorfull, previous was more dry. Surprisingly yield was pretty similar but with this one I got all the goodies out in 1 press, the dry kief took 2 presses to achieve a whole extraction. Here the 2nd press yield like a poor 2nd flower press.

Although the taste is greater, more flavorfull, fruity and complex than for my previous one which was tasted like basic hash without any fruity and fresh flavor.

Sounds great, I havn't seen Moroccan in many years. We do have crazy amounts of choices in my area now, but I kinda miss some of the old school gear. Nostalgia I guess.

 

[PPN]

Sounds great, I havn't seen Moroccan in many years. We do have crazy amounts of choices in my area now, but I kinda miss some of the old school gear. Nostalgia I guess.

Where I live moroccan H is the mainstream, I don't use it a lot since I already get a well covered flower stash but when I across something good I buy some grams.

 

[Hogni]

How do you handle pressed (moraccan) hash for making rosin?
Do you directely use a piece of the hash plate or do you broke it up fine before squishing??

 

[PPN]

Cut a 0.8-1.0g piece and press it like that inserted in a filter (tea bags, ptfe filterbags or ss steel) and in your paper/ptfe folded it 2 and again in 2 so the piece of hash will sit in the corner.

Typically I use a 15-20s press time at 100°C.

 

[miguelovic]

Regarding discussion on optimal psi. What are best pressures for pressuring flowers or hash in your current experience?
There are so much different numbers all around and epxperiences are growing with time.
Are there any commercial rosin producers who would share their experiences?

Not commercial but have done a few larger runs for friends.

On 3x5" plates pressing a 2x4" tile, 1.5-2g flower per square inch, 6-8t.

The tiles flatten out to a little over 2.5x4.5" roughly 12 inch square, 1000-1400PSI.

Result can vary greatly by cultivar. If there is enough material it is preferable to do a range of pressure/heat to find the optimal (to your requirements) return.

Haven't much experience with hash.

 

[shredder]

Not commercial but have done a few larger runs for friends.

On 3x5" plates pressing a 2x4" tile, 1.5-2g flower per square inch, 6-8t.

The tiles flatten out to a little over 2.5x4.5" roughly 12 inch square, 1000-1400PSI.

Result can vary greatly by cultivar. If there is enough material it is preferable to do a range of pressure/heat to find the optimal (to your requirements) return.

Haven't much experience with hash.

Sounds familier, lol. I have 3x5 plates and have ordered 2x4 mesh bags and a 2x4 pre press mold. 20 ton HF press. Hope you don't mind a few questions.

Any advice for filling bags? Or are you even using bags? Or coffee filters? Didn't see that in your post.

Are you doing a taco fold, directional folding? And on what type of paper? I'm thinking you want it to squirt out to the front and back of your plates. But you tube seems to suggest folks squeezing just to the front of the plates. Maybe for good photo shots?

 

[PPN]

For my last attempt I stored my kief with some 62% boveda packs for a few days....it doesn't make a huge difference in term of final product consistency (still shattery) but it looks like the yield is slightly better and easier to extract (faster), it gave me some bubbles in rosin like unpurged bho run and while squishing I heard more bubbling and sizzling.

Must to work on my folded technic cause I still get issue to reclaim all the thin layer of shatter on ptfe without to lost half of the yield in small sharps all around, where the slab is thick it's not an issue, only where it's very thin.

My scale is not precise enough for this purpose but I estimated my last attempts at + or- 55% yield....that's amazing to get so much oil so easily but, all in all, I still prefer the rosin made from flowers in term of taste, for pure medication the rosin made from kief is very effective!

edit: forgotten to mention the ptfe flter bags I bought from Alchimia are re-usable, you can empty them and refill...although I don't know how safe it is to make multiples presses with the same bag....

 

[miguelovic]

Sounds familier, lol. I have 3x5 plates and have ordered 2x4 mesh bags and a 2x4 pre press mold. 20 ton HF press. Hope you don't mind a few questions.

Any advice for filling bags? Or are you even using bags? Or coffee filters? Didn't see that in your post.

Are you doing a taco fold, directional folding? And on what type of paper? I'm thinking you want it to squirt out to the front and back of your plates. But you tube seems to suggest folks squeezing just to the front of the plates. Maybe for good photo shots?

I use coffee filters for flower and coffee/stainless steel (Sunfire's technique) the odd time I pressed hash.

I do mean to order bags but can't justify the price as this is more a hobby I threw too much money at.

Most of what is done on YT or social media is for attention. Working air to lighten colour, 0.25mm thick "patties" held against a light, dry sift in with flower, etc.

I haven't had a need for directional folding, perhaps if I pressed hash. I tend to work with 12-17% sativa dominant, there are no rivers of goo.

Like PPN, I prefer the taste of flower pressed. And yield. Dry sift and bubble yield rosin at 5-7% of initial weight. Between the labour, materials and time, it is a wasteful method unless working with trim. Headyblunt's trim runs (very clean sugar leaves) made me question even that, but I have yet to try.

I am not a fan of PTFE beyond storage. It has a tendency to crinkle and releases rosin with a pop, sending flecks everywhere. That was my experience at least.

OilSlick states Clear can be used for pressing (I believe), but their current samples are 4" squares re: packaging. Holds a strong static charge like PTFE.

I would like to try their parchment as well as that of the Black Label Paper Company (prefolds).

 

[invertedisdead]

If your yield for sift rosin is lower than flower something is wrong.

 

[miguelovic]

You misunderstand me or I am not expressing myself clearly.

I am talking about weight of rosin vs intial weight of raw material, not the yield of sift vs flower.

eg.

I can press 100g for 18% flower rosin.

Or sift it, yield 5-10%, and press that for 70-90%.

18g vs 3-9g.

Compound that by one waste for the former process, two waste for the latter, add that reclaim processing time and you have a lengthy procedure for less desired product.

 

[invertedisdead]

This is exactly what Bubbleman was talking about yesterday when somebody asked why not just press flower. The yield is higher but only because you extract all of the glandular trichomes. Including grades of glan heads you wouldn't necessarily want to vaporize had it been filtered. Like you probably wouldn't be super impressed with what comes out of the 190 micron bag, but when you press flower you're including all of those lesser desired grades of heads.

 

[miguelovic]

And yet flower rosin is superior and matches the flavour of the flower better.

Rosin by nature is impure. What it is is tasty.

No insult intended but Bubbleman is a reductionist. Look at the 8 bag system and say otherwise. Not to mention the obvious conflict of interest.

I am looking to make what is best and follow my own nose rather than be led by it.

I do not discount the experience of others, I make decisions on the whole spectrum, but obviously what I have experienced with my own eye weighs the most.

 

[shredder]

This is exactly what Bubbleman was talking about yesterday when somebody asked why not just press flower. The yield is higher but only because you extract all of the glandular trichomes. Including grades of glan heads you wouldn't necessarily want to vaporize had it been filtered. Like you probably wouldn't be super impressed with what comes out of the 190 micron bag, but when you press flower you're including all of those lesser desired grades of heads.

You can filter rosin lower than 190 microns while making. And I have agree with Miguelovic, flower rosin tastes better.

I have a semi fresh harvest I've been pressing and the terps and tastes are unreal.

And for what it's worth I did finally get a pre press mold (4x2) and mesh bags. It's only been a day but I can press roughly 7+ grams and get slightly over a gram of rosin per press.

Miguelovic, do you pre press bricks? And then wrap with coffee filter paper?

I've wrapped 2 gram loads that I pre pressed in a taco shell press. But most presses broke thru the paper that i wrapped with 2 layers of paper. I used a local brand of unbleached filters that I use for rso.

 

[herbivore21]

And yet flower rosin is superior and matches the flavour of the flower better.

Rosin by nature is impure. What it is is tasty.

No insult intended but Bubbleman is a reductionist. Look at the 8 bag system and say otherwise. Not to mention the obvious conflict of interest.

I am looking to make what is best and follow my own nose rather than be led by it.

I do not discount the experience of others, I make decisions on the whole spectrum, but obviously what I have experienced with my own eye weighs the most.

Sweeping statements like you are making are never going to be accurate all of the time. The rosin you get from a hash depends on the quality of the hash and the material it was made from (most hash gets made from trim, which is often stored without adequate care/humidity control - this shit will taste like old grass or will taste inferior in other ways). If your rosin from hash tastes worse than flower rosin, you were not pressing a tasty grade of hash from that material.

You may know I make full melt as well as the best of them, actually I have a slightly different perspective:

Rosin should almost never be made from hash because it fundamentally takes away from the flavor that hash has. IME, whole resin glands from mature flower between 45-120u are all more like the original taste of the flower than rosin from the same flower. Rosin tastes like an artifact of flower. A lot of the parts of the flavor in my flower that I enjoy the most (YMMV depending on your flower to some extent) are completely lost when the flower is rosined, but preserved in full melt (this is even preserved in lesser melting hashes).

For me, rosin is what I do with flowers that are not mature and do not have enough ripe resin to justify a full melt run.

If you are getting large amounts of hash that doesn't melt properly enough to dab, then you are making hash with flower that is not worthy of the hash treatment (or your hashmaking technique is not good enough).

IME, a good tasting hash will give a better tasting rosin than the same flower that it came from (and I am working from an all-things-being-equal scenario, that is I have rosin, flower and various kinds of hash from the same starting flower to compare). With that being said, the hash itself will taste better than any rosin that you make from it. Even 3-4 star non-full melt hash from good flowers/high quality trim in a flower vape will taste better than most rosin from flower IME.

If you have full melt, like bubbleman rightly says, you are crazy to press it into rosin! You're rupturing the resin gland, promoting oxidation and degradation of the resin when you press it. More to the point, the flavor and quality that sets hash aside and justifies the low yields of full melt hashmaking is reduced.

I do not use an 8 bag system to make hash, and all of my bags except for my contaminant catch bag get full melt, all the time, every time. All of those collections beat the flavor of flower rosin from the same flower by a long shot, except for often the 25 micron, which usually contains the sessile trichome heads (what bubbleman refers to as 'bulbous' heads from the distal leaves) which are less melty (5 star, not 6) and produce more CBC (not CBD as bubbleman said, that is not what the scholarly literature that I have read says and I believe he mispoke there as he is friends with the people who produced this research so I'm sure he knows this) rather than THC.

Bubbleman does sell bubble extraction products man so I understand you might prefer another opinion, but I trust that you can appreciate I do not sell anything at all, to anybody, anywhere.

 

[miguelovic]

@herbivore21

The last paragraph is a round about way of saying I prefer my own opinion. And my opinion is just that, nothing more.

I usually caveat more clearly.

I agree with much of what you're saying. I differ in that I prefer flower rosin, for a variety of reasons.

I try to keep posts short and say the jist of what I am driving at. No, it is not very accurate, just my way.

Conversely, your detailed style is part of the reason I drop in to read FC.

Like I said, I have not pressed much hash. This is important to consider. I don't recall mentioning quality issues.

I also preferred it just as hash.

@shredder

I also prepress to 2x4".

Your material may still be too moist. I pushed the limit a few times from curiosity.

The build up needs to be controlled and slow even with Goldilocks moisture content.

I pause at 1t for 5 seconds and take 60-70s to ramp up to 6-8t.

Or at least, those are the two common factors I encountered for blowouts.

 

[shredder]

Sweeping statements like you are making are never going to be accurate all of the time. The rosin you get from a hash depends on the quality of the hash and the material it was made from (most hash gets made from trim, which is often stored without adequate care/humidity control - this shit will taste like old grass or will taste inferior in other ways). If your rosin from hash tastes worse than flower rosin, you were not pressing a tasty grade of hash from that material.

You may know I make full melt as well as the best of them, actually I have a slightly different perspective:

Rosin should almost never be made from hash because it fundamentally takes away from the flavor that hash has. IME, whole resin glands from mature flower between 45-120u are all more like the original taste of the flower than rosin from the same flower. Rosin tastes like an artifact of flower. A lot of the parts of the flavor in my flower that I enjoy the most (YMMV depending on your flower to some extent) are completely lost when the flower is rosined, but preserved in full melt (this is even preserved in lesser melting hashes).

For me, rosin is what I do with flowers that are not mature and do not have enough ripe resin to justify a full melt run.

If you are getting large amounts of hash that doesn't melt properly enough to dab, then you are making hash with flower that is not worthy of the hash treatment (or your hashmaking technique is not good enough).

IME, a good tasting hash will give a better tasting rosin than the same flower that it came from (and I am working from an all-things-being-equal scenario, that is I have rosin, flower and various kinds of hash from the same starting flower to compare). With that being said, the hash itself will taste better than any rosin that you make from it. Even 3-4 star non-full melt hash from good flowers/high quality trim in a flower vape will taste better than most rosin from flower IME.

If you have full melt, like bubbleman rightly says, you are crazy to press it into rosin! You're rupturing the resin gland, promoting oxidation and degradation of the resin when you press it. More to the point, the flavor and quality that sets hash aside and justifies the low yields of full melt hashmaking is reduced.

I do not use an 8 bag system to make hash, and all of my bags except for my contaminant catch bag get full melt, all the time, every time. All of those collections beat the flavor of flower rosin from the same flower by a long shot, except for often the 25 micron, which usually contains the sessile trichome heads (what bubbleman refers to as 'bulbous' heads from the distal leaves) which are less melty (5 star, not 6) and produce more CBC (not CBD as bubbleman said, that is not what the scholarly literature that I have read and I believe he mispoke there as he is friends with the people who produced this research so I'm sure he knows this) rather than THC.

Bubbleman does sell bubble extraction products man so I understand you might prefer another opinion, but I trust that you can appreciate I do not sell anything at all, to anybody, anywhere.

I wish we lived closer, lol. I'd love to sample and compare.

Your making me want to drag my hash bags and buckets down from the top shelf in my veg room. No way would I go through all that commercially tho. Too much work for my old ass, lol. We need advanced technology to improve extraction. Something not yet invented. Or enough moola to buy the best.

Still there is a lot to be said about vaping rosin two minutes after you just squeezed it out. And from my perspective as a retired, small time grower, all good concentrates come from quality herb. Same as my organic veggie garden. Junk in, junk out and the opposite can apply as well. And I've been happier than snot dabbing fresh rosin. Maybe I shouldnt even try dabbing full melt, lol.

 

[TeeJay1952]

Years from now, when there are Drop Off Businesses, we will look back at these "Uncivilized Times" and shake our heads in disbelief. To be able to go to an establishment, taste the various products and then choose the rendition method of our choice sounds sublime.
Will our lives be better when it is Monsanto is versus Bird's Eye and Delmonte to bring us choice or will it be the local Sam Adams vs Budweiser?

 

[Bloby]

so here is my most current set up w/ everything installed. working on a spring return for it now.

Hey all, Ive been lurking around here a while and I'm planning on making my own DIY rosin press and am currently in the research stage. I have already decided that I will use a bottle jack (likely 8 ton) and now I need to make the housing. I saw this design by 2clicker earlier in the thread and was hoping for a little advice from people who have done something similar as I want to avoid and explosions!
How thick would the steel plates on the top and bottom need to be? I'm guessing about a cm
Best way to attach plate to bottle jack and ensure even pressure?
Any other nougats of information are very very welcome. I think I'll take photos along the way and create a walk-through of my process, and once it actually works properly post it up here