Rosin Technique....Easy DIY Solventless

Pyr0

Stoned Roses
Last week my Nugsmasher Mini arrived and I've been a little obsessed with making lots of rosin. :science: It's very simple to use and the .75" pre-press makes it easy to squish exactly the amount I want. I chose it for 2 reasons.

First, smaller plates allow smaller 1-2 gram squishes without the rosin staying on the hot plates as much. I don't grow, so smaller squishes allow me to learn the finer points of rosin tech without breaking he bank.

Second, I like to travel and sample the flower I find along the way. Since I really only dab rosin these days, it makes sense to have a small press I can use in the RV or hotel.

I'll still probably get a 20 ton press and plates before too long, but I'll always have the Nugsmasher Mini when I'm on the road.

Anyway, since it's new there's not a ton of stuff out there about the Nugsmasher Mini so I thought I'd share a few pics of some rosin I pressed with it this afternoon.

This is some 22% THC outdoor Kosher Kush that yielded 27%. It was kind of dry and mostly popcorn buds, but it was cheap and looked good enough I thought I’d give it a try. I rehydrated with Boveda packs for a couple days and squished a few ~2g pucks. Edging up the time and temp, I finally found the sweet spot with a decent amount of terps left. I put 3.5g in a bag and pressed at 230 degrees for 3 minutes. 3.5g in and .954g yield = 27%. Ironically this 9 month old dry outdoor bud yielded way more than several other strains of fresh top-shelf indoor that I also recently pressed using similar parameters.
Thank you for posting this, I've just found a place here in the UK offering these presses :)
I'm seriously tempted to buy one while I wait to build my own.
I've previously only pressed a gram or so, but something is making me wonder whether to go for the standard or mini. It's 760 for the standard and 420 for the mini
 
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Pyr0,

lazylightning

It's an obsession but it's pleasin'
Thank you for posting this, I've just found a place here in the UK offering these presses :)
I'm seriously tempted to buy one while I wait to build my own.
I've previously only pressed a gram or so, but something is making me wonder whether to go for the standard or mini. It's 760 for the standard and 420 for the mini

I was actually going to get the standard Nugsmasher, but then I read some Amazon reviews. Someone purchased a standard Nugsmasher and the PID went out right away. He contacted the company for warranty repair and they acknowledged that they had shipped some faulty PIDs and it was a known issue. However, they still made him pay to ship the whole unit back for warranty repair. Because it's twice the weight of the Mini, it cost him $130 for shipping. I know it only costs $30 to ship the Mini if I ever need repair so that definitely factored into my decision.

I also think I'll eventually get a 20-ton press and 3x5 plates so that made the smaller size more attractive. The nice thing about separate plates is when the PID goes you just repair or replace the PID. No shipping a 70lb crate back the manufacturer just to get a PID repair.

If you're in the UK I expect you'd never try to ship the unit back for warranty repairs. It's all riveted shut, but probably not that hard to pop the rivets and open up the case to do your own repairs if necessary.
 

Grifo

Well-Known Member
Some Platinum OG I pressed

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wow how many grams of herb? whats ur method?
 

invertedisdead

PHASE3
Manufacturer
wow how many grams of herb? whats ur method?

That was with 3x5 plates on a 12 ton press. Don't remember how much flower but return was 20%. Those plates were heated with an enail controller so I'm not sure what the actual plate temp was for that press but it was low enough to get that.
 
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Pyr0

Stoned Roses
I was actually going to get the standard Nugsmasher, but then I read some Amazon reviews. Someone purchased a standard Nugsmasher and the PID went out right away. He contacted the company for warranty repair and they acknowledged that they had shipped some faulty PIDs and it was a known issue. However, they still made him pay to ship the whole unit back for warranty repair. Because it's twice the weight of the Mini, it cost him $130 for shipping. I know it only costs $30 to ship the Mini if I ever need repair so that definitely factored into my decision.

I also think I'll eventually get a 20-ton press and 3x5 plates so that made the smaller size more attractive. The nice thing about separate plates is when the PID goes you just repair or replace the PID. No shipping a 70lb crate back the manufacturer just to get a PID repair.

If you're in the UK I expect you'd never try to ship the unit back for warranty repairs. It's all riveted shut, but probably not that hard to pop the rivets and open up the case to do your own repairs if necessary.
Nugsmasher mini and some 1.8" 160 mic bags ordered
Now I just have to wait for it to arrive :myday: lol
If anything goes wrong, I'll be shipping it back to the shop I purchased from in the UK and they'll handle returns or exchanges
 

lazylightning

It's an obsession but it's pleasin'
Nugsmasher mini and some 1.8" 160 mic bags ordered
Now I just have to wait for it to arrive :myday: lol
If anything goes wrong, I'll be shipping it back to the shop I purchased from in the UK and they'll handle returns or exchanges

Congrats! That's great you can just ship it back to the store for warranty repair. Did you get one of the mini pre-presses too? I use mine on most of the presses I do unless I'm shooting for 3.5g in a bag. It really helps compress 1-2g to the right size for maximum PSI and you get a nice even puck spread.
 
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Pyr0

Stoned Roses
Congrats! That's great you can just ship it back to the store for warranty repair. Did you get one of the mini pre-presses too? I use mine on most of the presses I do unless I'm shooting for 3.5g in a bag. It really helps compress 1-2g to the right size for maximum PSI and you get a nice even puck spread.
Thanks, i'm really looking forward to getting it :-)
I thought about the pre presses but I already have a cheap t-bar pollen press that I've been using to make pucks out of bits of leaves I've collected from lightly trimmed buds.
It's only about 3/4" diameter but I might try slightly thicker pucks as I'm usually pressing about 1-1.5 grams max.
I can see me pressing more once I get the nugsmasher.. might have to look for a cheap enail too
 
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lazylightning

It's an obsession but it's pleasin'
Thanks, i'm really looking forward to getting it :-)
I thought about the pre presses but I already have a cheap t-bar pollen press that I've been using to make pucks out of bits of leaves I've collected from lightly trimmed buds.
It's only about 3/4" diameter but I might try slightly thicker pucks as I'm usually pressing about 1-1.5 grams max.
I can see me pressing more once I get the nugsmasher.. might have to look for a cheap enail too

That pollen press might be perfect. The pre-press Nugsmasher makes for the mini is the same diameter and I've pressed 2.5g easily that way. An enail sounds like a good investment too, especially if you find squishing rosin as addicting as I do.
 
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b0

Cloudy...
Nugsmasher mini and some 1.8" 160 mic bags ordered
Now I just have to wait for it to arrive :myday: lol
If anything goes wrong, I'll be shipping it back to the shop I purchased from in the UK and they'll handle returns or exchanges

Would you mind sharing the place you ordered it? :)
 

Pyr0

Stoned Roses
Would you mind sharing the place you ordered it? :)
Hi @b0, not at all.
It's a fairly new place called Cultivate Hydroponics, but I think I managed to get an early bird price or something as they've increased now.
https://www.cultivatehydroponics.co.uk/nug-smasher
I spoke to the owner before ordering and he seemed like a decent guy.
He says it started with his mate ordering one of the standard ones through him and now he's offering the range. Although they're not listed on the site yet, you can order bags etc through him too
 
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Grifo

Well-Known Member
Iv taken up squishing lately... And I'm getting really tasty results with good yield.... (20%ish)
Still learning as much as possible, and squishing my way through my stash at an alarming rate.... least it grows in trees eh..

So what's the deal with the presquish...???
I presquish a little to just make it neat and keep it all together better..
Should I be proper squishing it to a flat..???

Also apparently a little heat first, without the squish, helps gett the juices flowing for a better yield on the squish...???
Kind of like a primer draw on a conduction vape I suppose...

Anyway I'm having much fun with the squishing, and even more with the testing...
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Im using very low temps and a long hard squish....

My rosin is a little dark as the product is about 8 months old....
It's glassy not gooey...
Very well cured og kush....

so what technique did you get this with? i know you used a hair straightener but did you use clamps? Also what hair straighter are you using?
 

kellya86

Herb gardener...
so what technique did you get this with? i know you used a hair straightener but did you use clamps? Also what hair straighter are you using?

I have recently started using a clamp to add extra pressure, but it works fine without it, providing you have some manly hand strength, or at least some weight to you....

The straighteners do go down to about 120c, but i need the fan speed controller to drop it that little bit more, to get super tasty results....

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invertedisdead

PHASE3
Manufacturer
I have recently started using a clamp to add extra pressure, but it works fine without it, providing you have some manly hand strength, or at least some weight to you....

But unless you weigh at least 500 pounds or have the strength of a boa constrictor, you're going to get better results using some kind of force multiplier. I've gotten great rosin from a low temp hair straightener and a bench vise. It's just a lot of work to collect when squishing 1g or less at a time. That's why the Nugsmasher Mini seems ideal for fresh squeezed personal stash.
 

lazylightning

It's an obsession but it's pleasin'
But unless you weigh at least 500 pounds or have the strength of a boa constrictor, you're going to get better results using some kind of force multiplier. I've gotten great rosin from a low temp hair straightener and a bench vise. It's just a lot of work to collect when squishing 1g or less at a time. That's why the Nugsmasher Mini seems ideal for fresh squeezed personal stash.

After a couple weeks with the Nugsmasher mini I'd say it works very well for a personal press. I've squished over 3 oz. of 20+ different strains and rarely do less than 2g using the pre-press mold. It's just so much easier to gather with at least 2g and I prefer putting 3g in a 160 micron bag for easiest squishing and best yields.

Whether it makes sense to go with this unit over a hair straightener probably depends on how much you're squishing. My goal was to squish ~10g of rosin per month for personal use and it works pretty perfectly for that. If I was doing much more than this I'd probably want to step up to 3x5 plates. If I was doing significantly less then I might stick with a hair straightener and just have fun with small squishes.
 

IIIQBIII

Vape Obsessed
I am also interested in acquiring a Rosin press for some homemade. Been reading a lot of threads lately, and came across the NugSmasher lines as well. Its hard to choose a device with the type of info out there. The newer iteration of the medium level Nugsmasher was posted about on IG. Not sure if the price jump is worth the extra parts, but still priced lower than the much larger commercial style presses.
 

invertedisdead

PHASE3
Manufacturer
Whether it makes sense to go with this unit over a hair straightener probably depends on how much you're squishing. My goal was to squish ~10g of rosin per month for personal use and it works pretty perfectly for that. If I was doing much more than this I'd probably want to step up to 3x5 plates. If I was doing significantly less then I might stick with a hair straightener and just have fun with small squishes.

Collecting off a ton of papers after using a hair straightener really is a pain in the ass if you are squeezing sappy low temp goodness. It's really the ease of use that sells it. I could make some head stash fire flower rosin with the right hair straightener and a bench vise, but it's quirky and takes a long time. Never used a Nugsmasher but have used arbor presses and hydraulic presses and the ease of use is totally worth it. I don't have room for a big setup though, so I love the idea of being able to just squeeze a fresh 8th with the NS Mini.
 

kellya86

Herb gardener...
Collecting off a ton of papers after using a hair straightener really is a pain in the ass if you are squeezing sappy low temp goodness. It's really the ease of use that sells it. I could make some head stash fire flower rosin with the right hair straightener and a bench vise, but it's quirky and takes a long time. Never used a Nugsmasher but have used arbor presses and hydraulic presses and the ease of use is totally worth it. I don't have room for a big setup though, so I love the idea of being able to just squeeze a fresh 8th with the NS Mini.

See I only wanna squish half a gram every now and then, as a little treat....
So anything more than straighteners and a clamp, is looking uneconomical for me....
At the moment anyway...

I still much prefer flower....
 

invertedisdead

PHASE3
Manufacturer
The second version has been out for a while. Never found how much PSI it really puts out. It seems a lot better for squishing bubble hash than flower.
 
invertedisdead,

Pyr0

Stoned Roses
Nugsmasher mini and some 1.8" 160 mic bags ordered
Now I just have to wait for it to arrive :myday: lol
If anything goes wrong, I'll be shipping it back to the shop I purchased from in the UK and they'll handle returns or exchanges
My Nugsmasher Mini arrived today :)

Rhys, the owner of Cultivate Hydroponics has been absolutely fantastic.
He's a really nice guy and has kept me updated all the way through the ordering and delivery process.
All in all it took less than 2 weeks to get here including the time taken for the plug conversion.

No squish pics yet as I'm stuck at work for the next 4-5 hours :(

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Pyr0

Stoned Roses
Experimentation...

random, 1 gram nug of skywalker, smashed :)
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beAsgKM.jpg

JSrDnzF.jpg


First impressions are great. This thing is really compact :)
The pucks are coming out flatter than ever
It's a lot easier to use than the straighteners, less stress on my hands and the end product, i would say is a higher quality.

I also picked up a pack of the 1.8x3" 160mic bags so I'll have to try squashing 3.5 grams sometime to see if it actually flows out lol
 
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