Rosin Technique....Easy DIY Solventless

[Baron23]

I have a small compressor, but I have a feeling I would be better off with hydraulic versions like the one you posted above or something like the Nugsmasher mini.

To me, pneumatic is too damn noisy.

Out of all of the presses out today under $1k what is the best bang for your buck? I will only be doing small amounts at a time, not big runs.

Might want to check out this thread...this fella bought three presses and tested them and wrote up a nice review. He's not a pro, just a guy on the boards. It was very interesting. You might also want to peruse that site as I know that Bud bought one of the rosinpressny units and has been streaming his squishes and commenting on it.


https://forum.vapelife.com/discussion/3051/rosinbomb-rocket-vs-mypress-vs-nugsmasher-mini

 

[Hogni]

Here is a How-To THC-A tutorial published by Lowtemp Plates


Solventless THCA Separation Tutorial
Solventless THCA Separation Tutorial by @drysiftfullmelt

Things you will need:

Parchment Paper
25 Micron Filter
Scissors
Rosin Press
Rosin (Wax works best)

Directions:

Take your wax and place it in a piece of pre cut parchment. Try to fold the wax into a square about 1/8"-1/4" thick. Place this wax square into 25 micron filter pouch. Cut off any excess material, to prevent any excess oil being soaked into the filter. Heat your plates to 130f-140f. Place the filtered wax into the press, and apply pressure VERY slowly. Once pressure is met, allow 30-60 seconds.

Most of the separation will have taken place on this first press, and you will be left with sauce on the parchment paper and THCA in the filter. If you wish, you can repeat this process at 200f and again at 300f (only do this in a stainless steel mesh due to temperature) for a clear/opaque shatter-like product.

 

[Baron23]

My fifth squish was with 27% THC, Pineapple Skunk. Big colas. I also vape this flower and like it a LOT. But my yields are still not up to par.

I peaked the gauge pressure at 2k psi with temp of 195 F. With the puck at 1.5" diameter, that is 1.75 square inches of area. So, 2k on the gauge x 4.37 square inches of the jack cylinder = 8,740. 8,740 divided by 1.75 = 4994 psi on the load...which should be PLENTY.

I squished a 1.8 g cola between parchment. No bag and I only did a very minor pre-press to flatten the nug just a bit.

The resulting rosin was beautiful. It collected brilliantly and tasted great with great effects.

But the yield is still low.

I have more of this flower and intend to try it also in flat bag and bottle tech. I might be able to go lower in temp but I'm happy with the consistency I'm getting. Just not the yield. I could add more pressure (and perhaps a lower temp) but 5k psi on the load is plenty from all I have read.

Maybe this is just the yield that can be gotten with the flower I have available. At this point, I can't say for certain.

My squish log to date:

The resulting rosin

But at least my press is appropriately decorated now! (that's Bud's new Vape Life logo, I'm not a stickers and pins kind of guy, but I liked this one. LOL)

Any suggestions are welcomed

 

[Baron23]

By the by, here are some pics of the trichomes on this strain....looks pretty good to me...maybe a little immature but pretty good flower, IMO. Thoughts?

 

[miguelovic]

@Hogni

Check out diet.funk on IG for the rundown on the "jam sauce" they're producing by jarring and heating pressed rosin.

 

[Grifo]

@Hogni

Check out diet.funk on IG for the rundown on the "jam sauce" they're producing by jarring and heating pressed rosin.

jar tech love that he shares info

 

[roboticnightmares]

Oh my, all those jars!!!

I checked out the insta page. I dont really see any explantion. What kind of heat are they applying, and the duration? Anyone have sny ideas? I checked posts on bunch of the pics, just people asking questions about the process. Is this a potential way to make rosin thin enough to use in a ccell without using additional terpenes or other dilutants?

Are they running a vacuum with heat on the pressed rosin?


Edit: maybe using a pressure cooker.

 

[miguelovic]

@roboticnightmares

No it is pressure. Some people have exploded jars.

You have to read the IG story on his profile called Tech.

I am trying later this week when I make a batch of fresh frozen.

 

[Baron23]

Wrt to my yield issues (oh, I'm so ashamed! LOL):

I will try to get better pics of the trichomes on the Pineapple Skunk but I can assure you that this is really very good vaping flower....but my pressing yields are still low...as you can see above, in the 13% range.

I've watched Bubbleman's vids (which I have to tell you, it ain't easy for me to watch too much of him) and his Where's My Bike strain 30% yields. In particular, it was apparently so sticky and gooey (the buds) that he picked up his scale by just sticking it to his finger. So, this brings up the point of what exactly makes bud dank and sticky. THC or....maybe plant waxes/fats/cell organelles/other stuff???.

Because, I don't really know anybody who has sent rosin out for testing so I don't really know what % of yield is THC and what is just other junk.

I doubt that Bubbleman's flower was over 30% THC...and I feel somewhat confident that he didn't squeeze out 30% yield of just THC so some percentage of his rosin is "other stuff". How much....dunno. What makes up the "other stuff", I dunno. But it can't be THC.

Wrt to the flower test results of my Pineapple Skunk....I have had two conversations with lead growers from two our our med cultivators and they both said that there is some difference between results from the three labs we have doing testing (and of course, all growers want to shop for the best test numbers). But what can the general magnitude of this difference between lab results be? I'm saying 10% and no more than 15%...otherwise I think the state would look into it and certainly one lab would get all of the work and the others will be sucking wind. So, let's just say 15% and let's deduct that from my 27% test results. So, I think its safe to say I have a min of 23% THC...but only a 13% yield (sigh).

So, I watched a LOT of vids. In particular, Pure Pressure did an experiment with two strains squished identically under different levels of RH wich is here:

They tested with Death Valley Cheese and Blueberry....both indicas I believe. Here is the THC amounts that they claim are in this flower:

Basically, 26%.

Then they show the yields that they got....and this is the manufacture using full up bags and all of the tech that they have....and the results were:

Pretty low figures, note the 15% at 62% RH for the Cheese. So, again...I wonder exactly what is driving the yields up for Bubbleman and some others....THC or is it other sticky plant material that will also squish out and increase yield but not much else.

I feel certain that a lot of it is my source material....but I will also try increasing pressure some....and if that doesn't resolve it, then increase temp some but I'm afraid of getting too high of a temp and having oily sticky rosin that's hard to collect.

By the by, I did do a second squish on the puck....folded it over and squished the heck out of it again....and got another .032 g. Not much. And yes, I saved the puck and will try to vape it some and maybe even smoke it (oh, the horror...the horror...haha) and see what's left in there but I suspect not much.

This has been more difficult that I thought it would be....but the rosin I am getting is delicious, a beautiful color, and hits hard...I like it, just want more of it. LOL

So what am I (and apparently Pure Pressure) doing wrong?

 

[invertedisdead]

I've gotten as much as 50% more rosin going from 200 to 220F.

Has anybody else tried the diet funk tech? I got too impatient and cracked it after about 24 hours but it was definitely on its way to something interesting. I want to try it again and just leave it sealed for a while to allow the pressure to do its thing. This is with flower too, I noticed most are using hash rosin.

 

[roboticnightmares]

@roboticnightmares

No it is pressure. Some people have exploded jars.

You have to read the IG story on his profile called Tech.

I am trying later this week when I make a batch of fresh frozen.

Ahhhh, i see it now. Really not familiar with how insta actually works. I see the insta story now. Fascinating!!!! Gotta love happy sccidents.
Reminds a bit of cobbing freshly harvested flower. Yes , the fresh frozen should be super terpy, snd i imagine would give great results.

 

[roboticnightmares]

Wrt to my yield issues (oh, I'm so ashamed! LOL):

I will try to get better pics of the trichomes on the Pineapple Skunk but I can assure you that this is really very good vaping flower....but my pressing yields are still low...as you can see above, in the 13% range.

I've watched Bubbleman's vids (which I have to tell you, it ain't easy for me to watch too much of him) and his Where's My Bike strain 30% yields. In particular, it was apparently so sticky and gooey (the buds) that he picked up his scale by just sticking it to his finger. So, this brings up the point of what exactly makes bud dank and sticky. THC or....maybe plant waxes/fats/cell organelles/other stuff???.

Because, I don't really know anybody who has sent rosin out for testing so I don't really know what % of yield is THC and what is just other junk.

I doubt that Bubbleman's flower was over 30% THC...and I feel somewhat confident that he didn't squeeze out 30% yield of just THC so some percentage of his rosin is "other stuff". How much....dunno. What makes up the "other stuff", I dunno. But it can't be THC.

Wrt to the flower test results of my Pineapple Skunk....I have had two conversations with lead growers from two our our med cultivators and they both said that there is some difference between results from the three labs we have doing testing (and of course, all growers want to shop for the best test numbers). But what can the general magnitude of this difference between lab results be? I'm saying 10% and no more than 15%...otherwise I think the state would look into it and certainly one lab would get all of the work and the others will be sucking wind. So, let's just say 15% and let's deduct that from my 27% test results. So, I think its safe to say I have a min of 23% THC...but only a 13% yield (sigh).

So, I watched a LOT of vids. In particular, Pure Pressure did an experiment with two strains squished identically under different levels of RH wich is here:

They tested with Death Valley Cheese and Blueberry....both indicas I believe. Here is the THC amounts that they claim are in this flower:

Basically, 26%.

Then they show the yields that they got....and this is the manufacture using full up bags and all of the tech that they have....and the results were:

Pretty low figures, note the 15% at 62% RH for the Cheese. So, again...I wonder exactly what is driving the yields up for Bubbleman and some others....THC or is it other sticky plant material that will also squish out and increase yield but not much else.

I feel certain that a lot of it is my source material....but I will also try increasing pressure some....and if that doesn't resolve it, then increase temp some but I'm afraid of getting too high of a temp and having oily sticky rosin that's hard to collect.

By the by, I did do a second squish on the puck....folded it over and squished the heck out of it again....and got another .032 g. Not much. And yes, I saved the puck and will try to vape it some and maybe even smoke it (oh, the horror...the horror...haha) and see what's left in there but I suspect not much.

This has been more difficult that I thought it would be....but the rosin I am getting is delicious, a beautiful color, and hits hard...I like it, just want more of it. LOL

So what am I (and apparently Pure Pressure) doing wrong?

I suspect that is all the bud actually has to offer. One think i can suggest is to take your chips and do an everclear soak , evaporate, and see how much oil you can pull from the used up chips. This will give you an idea as to how much is being left being. Obviously if there isnt much being pulled with the alcohol extraction , you have confirmation your tech is not the problem.

Smoking or vaping to determine how much is left behind in chips is too subjective, with the additional ethanol extraction you can get some actual hard numbers. Good luck.

 

[tepictoton]

@Baron23 those yields from where is my bike are the highest one wil get when using really good genetics selected for this job (pressing into rosin), but on average 15% will be the return one can expect.

About thc percentage, I posted the test results from masters of rosin cup in Barcelona last year in this thread. The percentage of thc in the rosin was in between 55-70%, with one result testing way lower, but it had a lot more cbd in it(the others all did not have any cbd)

 

[Baron23]

I suspect that is all the bud actually has to offer. One think i can suggest is to take your chips and do an everclear soak , evaporate, and see how much oil you can pull from the used up chips. This will give you an idea as to how much is being left being. Obviously if there isnt much being pulled with the alcohol extraction , you have confirmation your tech is not the problem.

Smoking or vaping to determine how much is left behind in chips is too subjective, with the additional ethanol extraction you can get some actual hard numbers. Good luck.

@Baron23 those yields from where is my bike are the highest one wil get when using really good genetics selected for this job (pressing into rosin), but on average 15% will be the return one can expect.

About thc percentage, I posted the test results from masters of rosin cup in Barcelona last year in this thread. The percentage of thc in the rosin was in between 55-70%, with one result testing way lower, but it had a lot more cbd in it(the others all did not have any cbd)

Thank guys, good info. Yep, I'll keep looking for higher yielding flower to press.

55-70% THC? So, what makes up the other 30-45%? I do still wonder if in these waterfall gusher squishing vids what is making up so much bulk is more of the "other 30-45%".

Still want to improve (as much as reasonable) the qty, but I'm loving vaping fresh rosin.

Thanks again.

 

[tepictoton]

Partly terpenes, partly lipids and or fats?

 

[BCC]

It goes like this, the pressure seen on the gauge is line pressure (in psi so per square inch) that is being applied to each square inch of the hydraulic jack cylinder. The area of this particular jack cylinder is 4.37 square inches.

So, for example, let’s take pumping it up to 8k psi on the gauge (80% of the pump’s max capability). The actual force being applied to the plates (or to the load of flower if it’s in there) is 8 x 4.37 = 34,962 lbs of pressure total.

Take that and divide it up over the area of your load....let's say it’s a 2 x 3 rosin bag with 6 square inches of area. 34,962/6 = 5,827 psi on the load. This is WAY high, higher than I thought I was applying, and I don't think i really need anything higher than 2,000 psi or so, right?

Good info, thanks. Based on that, this is the calculation for line psi:

(target psi * bag area in square inches) / cylinder area in square inches = line psi

Plugging in your numbers:

(2000 * 6) / 4.37 = 2745 line psi

My cylinder is only 2 sq inches and I use 2x3 pucks (no bag). So I need a much higher line psi:

(2000 * 6) / 2 = 6000 line psi

BTW, to calculate the cylinder's area, measure the circumference and then google for "circumference to area of a circle calculator" if, like me, you forget the math.

 

[miguelovic]

Rosin press manufacturers are horrible at making rosin. Not to mention, the presses themselves, even if they bothered to do more than slap a sticker on a Chinese shirt press.

Look at their conflicting results.

Likely they did not grade the flower.

Further, Boveda take much longer to work than most people allow. When I used them I noted that while it would make the flower feel right within a day or two, it would crisp up far too quickly than one expects. Letting the flower sit with the pack for 7 days produced more consistent result.

These days I find it simpler to rehydrate manually in a Rubbermaid by misting the lid.

@roboticnightmares

That reminds me, I have a bit of cob to press hehe.

 

[tepictoton]

Boveda packs....

They might give you a 'higher' return, but I doubt they will do any good to the quality.

It might look as if rehydrating gives beter returns, but nobody is asking what is the difference between rehydrated flower rosin and pressed at the moment they are ready and pressed when overly dry... I understand logistics might make it imposible to get flower at the time they are more or less at their peak for pressing and thus make rehydrating something that might seem logical. But I myself believe you are better of with the 'lower' return from 'overly' drie material in comparison to the slightly higher returns rehydrating offer. That's just my two cents, try it for yourselves

 

[Hackerman]

There has been substantial argument over the yields of higher moisture flowers simply yielding more water, not rosin.

I have found some truth in that. I have not done side by side testing but I pressed a gram of rosin and 2 or 3 days later (after sitting out) it was 0.78g. So, I lost over 20% to evaporation. Some terps will evaporate at room temperature but I'm guessing it was mostly water.

Take 2 samples of same pot. Keep one in a jar with Boveda packs and let one dry on it's own. Press them both. Weigh the yield. Let both rosin yields sit out 3 or 4 days. Weigh again.

It might take more than one test to define any real conclusive results but one should be able to resolve this with these few simple tests.

One of the premier pressers over at ICMag says we're all crazy for hydrating. He claims the best results come from drying it 'as dry as a bone' before pressing.

 

[shredder]

I suspect that is all the bud actually has to offer. One think i can suggest is to take your chips and do an everclear soak , evaporate, and see how much oil you can pull from the used up chips. This will give you an idea as to how much is being left being. Obviously if there isnt much being pulled with the alcohol extraction , you have confirmation your tech is not the problem.

Smoking or vaping to determine how much is left behind in chips is too subjective, with the additional ethanol extraction you can get some actual hard numbers. Good luck.

I use a half gallon size glass jar to save used pucks. When it's full I use ISO alcohol to extract with. I typically get over ten grams return. Then I winterize that with grain alcohol, and after filtering again then rendering it down I get about 4-5 grams of good clean oil.

So that first run has a lot of plant waxes that stay in the puck. A lot more than the rosin does, so I figure the puck is acting like a filter of sorts, but they do have good oil if you work for it. Kind of like getting oil from abv.

Anyway that's my experience getting oil from used pucks. Since the terpenes are pretty much gone we use the oil for cannacaps.

@tepictoton, most people use bodeva packs to keep their herb nice not for pressing rosin. I used them a long while before I ever made rosin. I don't think they change the herb (or rosin) in a negative way. More that they keep the herb at a peak level. While they do work to rehydrate dry herb, why let the herb dry out in the first place?

 

[roboticnightmares]

I use a half gallon size glass jar to save used pucks. When it's full I use ISO alcohol to extract with. I typically get over ten grams return. Then I winterize that with grain alcohol, and after filtering again then rendering it down I get about 4-5 grams of good clean oil.

So that first run has a lot of plant waxes that stay in the puck. A lot more than the rosin does, so I figure the puck is acting like a filter of sorts, but they do have good oil if you work for it. Kind of like getting oil from abv.

Anyway that's my experience getting oil from used pucks. Since the terpenes are pretty much gone we use the oil for cannacaps.

@tepictoton, most people use bodeva packs to keep their herb nice not for pressing rosin. I used them a long while before I ever made rosin. I don't think they change the herb (or rosin) in a negative way. More that they keep the herb at a peak level. While they do work to rehydrate dry herb, why let the herb dry out in the first place?

Wow, i have to admit that im surprised that there would be that many waxes, lipids, etc.. good to know. Thanks for sharing.

 

[PPN]

... and water too!


Just want to share I'm using a lot the Rosin tek lately, but I'm sticking with kief squish since it's very cheap and common around, and since I only use a hair iron with a diy pressure system. A hair iron doesn't permit to squish more than 2-2.5g at once... so with the weed I grow myself I can't expect to get yield better than 10-12% which is very low (only 0.2 at max on the parchment and often very difficult to reclaim cause it's very runny). Using kief I can get a 50% yield at the first squish and 10-15% at the second one, so with one squish I'm getting back at least 1g of rosin... enough for a week at least, I'm not a heavy user about concentrates.

Got a Slug Deuce I want to use with flowers mainly but still not able to get a good yield at all for now although I will try it soon with a mix flowers+kief and, when my garden will be harvested, a month or two (depends the strains) I will try it with the best flowers I'll get (and it promises to get some very good Haze and Kush!!).

 

[tepictoton]

@shredder I tried boveda packs but they are just not my thing.

When living in a hot dry place herb definately dries out when left unattended.

Here is the thing, I put 'overly' dry in between brackets because I believe when it comes to rosin there is no such thing? Just my two cents

But I am a bit 'off' on many things rosin related. Like for instance the claim that pressing at 220f gives better results because the rosin runs from the plates faster ...

If prepared right your puck should end up being just a tad smaller then your plates, thus assuring that al the rosin leaves from the hot plates from the moment it starts to flow.

Yes returns are lower, but quality is that much higher I take the loss without a blink. Off course this gets more obvious when pressing top shelf stuff, when there are more precious terpenes to be preserved to start with.

And Yes, a lot is depending on the strain (or even certain phenotypes) when it comes to rosin ...

All in the name of science

 

[invertedisdead]

Yes returns are lower, but quality is that much higher I take the loss without a blink. Off course this gets more obvious when pressing top shelf stuff, when there are more precious terpenes to be preserved to start with.

I honestly don't think rosin squished a few degrees cooler has so much more terpenes that its worth any major yield loss. I've squished flower as low as 140F and tend to be a quality > quantity person myself, but at the same time I want to yield more than one dab of top quality rosin too.

 

[miguelovic]

Rehydrating is not ideal but useful.

I process for others. The material quality varies greatly. Quick turn around, yield and quality in varying order. Without rehydrating, I have to press at a substantially higher temperature to yield similar to hydrated material. 180-190 vs 210-220.

Adding too much moisture is as much a downfall as too little. The rosin has to be treated further and more of what we don't want ends up in the final product.

Ideally I like to work with product fresh from the drying room but I can't afford to be picky.