Gear Slug .33 Rosin Forge

[steama]

I cant agree more with whoever said to be careful not to go too hard when collecting rosin. I've had little shards stuck to my face and arms and fridge and they are impossible to save if they warm up enough. All you need is one good piece on your dab tool and it'll pick up the rest. I usually squeeze and freeze my parchment for like 5 minutes and the little drip of rosin is what I grab first. It has usually frozen into a nice shard. Once I have that I go around and start tapping at the ring and it is quite impressive how easily it comes off. Believe me y'all. I've tried scraping with xacto knives and dab tools and it never works. It usually leave behind enough rosin to make me feel like I'm wasting some.

I noticed that when I put my parchment and rosin inside the freezer to chill that this method will add moisture to your rosin. This method made my rosin snap, crackle, and pop.

I tried what @Nattybushdoctor does by laying the parchment and rosin on top of a lunchbox cooling pack. This works great and does not add moisture to your rosin. Then I found a 6x6 inch granite slab that I leave in the freezer. Same method as the lunchbox cooling block only on top of a perfectly flat chilled rock instead.

 

[Gonzo_Dabs]

How does it add moisture? Genuinely curious. It's only in there for a few minutes. Would the parchment being in a plastic bag help that?

Either way I would like a nice conductive surface like a cold stone or brass plate for convenience.

 

[ClearBlueLou]

Great to hear your success, Gonzo!

Be assured I’m not wasting my blown forgings: I currently have THREE pressed loads sitting in 3 tablespoons of fresh homemade ghee, with a teaspoon of liquid lecithin. The ISO wash from my Slug itself has evaporated, and it looks like there might be a half-gram left behind, and after purging, *that* will go into the ghee as well, as will the pressings from another 3.5g of the mystery nug (still to come).

I’ll probably add another two tablespoons of ghee and some more lecithin before I’m done. I heat it up good for an hour or more every night. Thinking about straining out the plant and then grinding it up and adding it back in.

Stuff tastes amazing.

How does it add moisture? Genuinely curious. Its only in there for a fee minutes. Would the parchment being in a plastic bag help that?

Either way I would like a nice conductive surface like a cold stone or brass plate for convenience.

If you chill the parchment with the goo on it, then moisture will condense on paper and goo when you bring it back out...that’s how

 

[Gonzo_Dabs]

Well Steama is saying that it adds moisture. If what you're saying is true Lou then chilling the paper at all will cause condensation. Freezer or not. My question was whether or not the freezer method ADDS water. If condensation is your concern then any drop in temperature should be avoided.

I'm aware of condensation. But that's unavoidable. The freezer pack will do the same thing on some level. I'm wondering if and how the freezer actually adds water because I've never heard of freezers actually hydrating stuff. But if that's the case then I'm not putting rosin there. But if the condensation is your concern then it really shouldn't matter to my knowledge.

 

[invertedisdead]

Well Steama is saying that it adds moisture. If what you're saying is true Lou then chilling the paper at all will cause condensation.

Yes even using a cold pack can add some moisture to the rosin if it's dabbed right after.

 

[Gonzo_Dabs]

Yes even using a cold pack can add some moisture to the rosin if it's dabbed right after.

Exactly. Now what if we chill with a cold pack/stone just to make collecting and transferring to a glass container easier and then using it after it's warmed up?

 

[invertedisdead]

Exactly. Now what if we chill with a cold pack/stone just to make collecting and transferring to a glass container easier and then using it after it's warmed up?

It should be fine, there might still be a little moisture in there for the first dab but that's exactly how I do it when transferring to glass.

 

[ClearBlueLou]

Well it’s the warming up, outside the frigid air of the freezer, that causes the condensation. If the parchment is room-temp, and you pull a cold slab and put your paper on it, your paper will NOT be the coldest thing so go ahead with your collection. You should be done before condensation interferes with your collection.

Letting it warm up and breathe a little before dabbing just sounds reasonable.

 

[Gonzo_Dabs]

Yes the paper won't be the coldest thing but as soon as it touches the cold surface it will be colder than the ambient air and condensation will occur. It doesn't have to be the coldest thing in the room to condense moisture.

All this I feel isn't very relevant though because moisture shouldn't affect our dabs since we all are probably dabbing fresh squeezed goodness. For our purposes of collecting and transfering from the paper to an appropriate container the short amount of time our goo spends in cold temps should not matter. A minute or 2 in cold temps for collection and then a few minutes to breathe and warm up should be all the drastic temp change our stuff sees. I should be able to score a good amount of flower soon so I will definitely be doing several runs and gathering it all in one lovely blob.

I too am saving my pucks. That way even a totally fucked up run still has something to show. I have almost a quarter of pucks. And they all have rosin on and in them. So butter will definitely be coming. But Lou I like your Ghee infusion. I first had Ghee recently and it was divine. Medicated ghee is just like....wow...haha and I would probably do what you are doing and infuse small amounts at a time with high doses.

 

[ClearBlueLou]

I’m hoping to get mine up to around 500mg per half-teaspoon
Currently taking a half-teaspoon twice a day. Yum!

 

[steama]

Yes the paper won't be the coldest thing but as soon as it touches the cold surface it will be colder than the ambient air and condensation will occur. It doesn't have to be the coldest thing in the room to condense moisture.

All this I feel isn't very relevant though because moisture shouldn't affect our dabs since we all are probably dabbing fresh squeezed goodness. For our purposes of collecting and transfering from the paper to an appropriate container the short amount of time our goo spends in cold temps should not matter. A minute or 2 in cold temps for collection and then a few minutes to breathe and warm up should be all the drastic temp change our stuff sees. I should be able to score a good amount of flower soon so I will definitely be doing several runs and gathering it all in one lovely blob.

I too am saving my pucks. That way even a totally fucked up run still has something to show. I have almost a quarter of pucks. And they all have rosin on and in them. So butter will definitely be coming. But Lou I like your Ghee infusion. I first had Ghee recently and it was divine. Medicated ghee is just like....wow...haha and I would probably do what you are doing and infuse small amounts at a time with high doses.

Moisture does affect dabs my friend.

All I said is that I noticed when I chilled my rosin in the open freezer it added enough moisture to snap, crackle, and pop when I dabbed the rosin chilled this way (open freezer). When I used a cold pack or my rock I did not hear the moisture pops when dabbed. It is true there is condensation on the surface of an ice pack or a cold rock but not enough to make it through the ice cold parchment paper...it is different. From my experience sticking my parchment and rosin into the freezer added too much moisture for my tastes. I am just sharing what works best for me. Things are only relevant if they matter to you.

I'm saving my pucks too mostly because I hoard things.

 

[ClearBlueLou]

My wife’s been after me to get rid of 90% of my stuff for more than ten years...
For example, did you know that those “ZipFizz” electrolyte and vitamin things you pour into a water bottle when you’re out for the day? Those things come in DoobTubes....

@Gonzo_Dabs, it’s not a biggie, your extract will get sticky before you get noticeable condensation, so you’d stop then anyway, right? So you just let it warm up the rest of the way and the moisture will evaporate off

 

[steama]

I have a large camera bag collection for some odd reason. There is no way in hell I could ever use them all. When I see nice one for sell for $2 to $5 I can't help myself. Oh no, now everyone knows I'm crazy.

Come to think of it my slug33's are stored inside a camera bag, inside another bag.

 

[Gonzo_Dabs]

Oh I know moisture affects them. For sure haha I'm just pointing out that by introducing it to colder temps in general there will be some level of condensation no matter what. And I wasn't referring to condensation seeping through the paper. I thought we were talking about water condensing in the rosin itself by being in the freezer. That was my initial question to begin with. I believe parchment paper wouldn't just absorb water right? Cause the coating? But since none of us are going to be dabbing directly out of the freezer it's not a problem. But I will definitely stop putting them in the freezer and do the ice pack thing if nothing but for convenience sake.

Lou I know exactly what you are talking about. Those ZIP Fizz things were popular a few years back haha I loved them and if I was a stoner back then I would have saved every one of those containers. That's brilliant haha.

 

[steama]

Oh I know moisture affects them. For sure haha I'm just pointing out that by introducing it to colder temps in general there will be some level of condensation no matter what. And I wasn't referring to condensation seeping through the paper. I thought we were talking about water condensing in the rosin itself by being in the freezer. That was my initial question to begin with. I believe parchment paper wouldn't just absorb water right? Cause the coating? But since none of us are going to be dabbing directly out of the freezer it's not a problem. But I will definitely stop putting them in the freezer and do the ice pack thing if nothing but for convenience sake.

Lou I know exactly what you are talking about. Those ZIP Fizz things were popular a few years back haha I loved them and if I was a stoner back then I would have saved every one of those containers. That's brilliant haha.

good-luck buddy

I’m hoping to get mine up to around 500mg per half-teaspoon
Currently taking a half-teaspoon twice a day. Yum!

exactly how OLD are you

 

[Gonzo_Dabs]

Just did this. 1:10 seconds of heating. This was by far the most action packed press I've done. The rosin came out in a damn hurry haha mild blowout towards the ends but I caught it in time. And boy did it smoke well and hit hard. I am instantly a fan of the freezer pack method. It does not need a lot of exposure at all to the cold to become stable enough to handle. I over estimated that part by a mile. The freezer was far too much work.

Once I folded that drip onto itself and placed it on the cold pack it was less than a minute later than I was able to pluck a gorgeous piece of rosin and it blew my head off haha Also sorry about the orientation.

 

[ClearBlueLou]

exactly how OLD are you

Old enough to not care any more...I’ve been on Medicare for two years, I was just out of high school when this song came out

 

[Ramahs]

Just did this. 1:10 seconds of heating. This was by far the most action packed press I've done. The rosin came out in a damn hurry haha mild blowout towards the ends but I caught it in time.

Nice lookin' press @Gonzo_Dabs !


I was overjoyed when I got home to see four packages in the mail, which included the rest of my kit!

I get to start squishin' tonight! Yay me!
(Sorry, but I have no one else to show this to, or brag about it to, other than you people here on FC...and I'm excited, and need to brag to someone )

 

[ClearBlueLou]

Congratulations, @Ramahs! You’re all set! I understand your enthusiasm AND your desire to crow a bit, this is your place.

Nice looking results, there, @Gonzo_Dabs - well done!

I’m still waiting on my seep kit, so I’m hanging tight.

In other news, there are apparently at least FOUR different ‘official’ configurations of Whip-It Ion lite torches...

 

[Ramahs]

And...first attempt is...a miserable failure! lol

More heat? I heated for about 1:25 - 1:30 this time
Starting weight was about 1.03g

I assume that I can just break this puck up and try again, since I didn't appear to really lose any oil from this one? (Blue dream from a legal state, tested at 25.45% THC)

----------------

Okay...second press.
I just broke up the puck and re-pressed the same herb. Got a decent drip this time, but looks like I overdid the heat a bit. But it's still better than the first press:

 

[steama]

And...first attempt is...a miserable failure! lol

More heat? I heated for about 1:25 - 1:30 this time
Starting weight was about 1.03g

I assume that I can just break this puck up and try again, since I didn't appear to really lose any oil from this one? (Blue dream from a legal state, tested at 25.45% THC)

----------------

Okay...second press.
I just broke up the puck and re-pressed the same herb. Got a decent drip this time, but looks like I overdid the heat a bit. But it's still better than the first press:

Excellent learning and progress...you are doing great! Keep at it my friend you are going in the right direction. Before long you will be turning straw into gold.

Old enough to not care any more...I’ve been on Medicare for two years, I was just out of high school when this song came out

I offer my respect to my herb loving elder

Just did this. 1:10 seconds of heating. This was by far the most action packed press I've done. The rosin came out in a damn hurry haha mild blowout towards the ends but I caught it in time. And boy did it smoke well and hit hard. I am instantly a fan of the freezer pack method. It does not need a lot of exposure at all to the cold to become stable enough to handle. I over estimated that part by a mile. The freezer was far too much work.

Once I folded that drip onto itself and placed it on the cold pack it was less than a minute later than I was able to pluck a gorgeous piece of rosin and it blew my head off haha Also sorry about the orientation.

That looks super sweet!

 

[Ramahs]

Excellent learning and progress...you are doing great! Keep at it my friend you are going in the right direction. Before long you will be turning straw into gold.

Thank you my friend!

Second gram, third press. A little bit better. Still looks a bit too hot. I also started the slug not fully cooled down, which is probably not a good idea when I'm still getting the hang of it. Only getting around 10% return on these two presses...but it can only get better from here!

It still looks fairly golden when flattened out. Not great, but not terrible either. I think I shall go relax with this:

 

[steama]

Thank you my friend!

Second gram, third press. A little bit better. Still looks a bit too hot. I also started the slug not fully cooled down, which is probably not a good idea when I'm still getting the hang of it. Only getting around 10% return on these two presses...but it can only get better from here!

It still looks fairly golden when flattened out. Not great, but not terrible either. I think I shall go dab this and relax:

Cool indeed, very fast learner you are!

From looking at slug bottom I would go with 1 gram and either a smaller flame or about 10 to 15 seconds less heating time.

Your inclinations are completely correct so you are reading everything right and you can make the appropriate adjustments from what you see. EXCELLENT!

You are also correct in letting the slugs cool to ambient temps as Natty has explained. A small fan blowing on that slug33 will cool it down in no time.

Good work Sir!

 

[Gonzo_Dabs]

That's an awesome looking set up you got going on there! And you are catching on fast! Welcome to the family!

My advice on redoing a failed press. Heat it for like 45 seconds to start. The slug and the material are still hot so you don't need to do it the full minute or so.

I pre compress before heating so that 1/3 or so of the piston is in. Or until it gets a noticeably harder. Not alot harder. Just enough to feel it for sure. Then I heat for about 30 seconds before I start compressing and compress slow enough to where I'm done heating before I bottom it out.

 

[steama]

My advice on redoing a failed press. Heat it for like 45 seconds to start. The slug and the material are still hot so you don't need to do it the full minute or so.

I pre compress before heating so that 1/3 or so of the piston is in. Or until it gets a noticeably harder. Not alot harder. Just enough to feel it for sure. Then I heat for about 30 seconds before I start compressing and compress slow enough to where I'm done heating before I bottom it out.

Wow, now that is some excellent advice. I could have really used it when learning and fucking up. Everyone starting out should know your method on dealing with a failed press. Excellent info Sir.