Gear Slug .33 Rosin Forge

[ClearBlueLou]

FTR I sampled a dab of my pressings last night, not a very big one. I think that may have been the most stoned I’ve ever been in 50 years...or at least the most psychedelic stone I’ve ever had. More than “impressed”.

 

[-dab8-]

I’ll never forget my first dab. Mmmm... was so blown away. Magical delicious experience.

 

[ClearBlueLou]

Magically delicious! I like it

 

[steama]

When you have completed a run and you have your spent puck often there is a paper thin edge of rosin and herb surrounding the puck. I just pull that off and vape it in my Flower Pot. Because this outer edge is saturated with rosin. The rest of the puck should be pretty spent. If you break the puck up from a good run you will see there isn't much good stuff left at all.

Did a couple runs with lesser flower a friend gifted me and was meh, I am losing my touch. Then I got a few nugs of some top-shelf and was like holy shit that gob of goo is huge. The reason I share this is because I have memorized the timing and variables of every step to the second. I use a seconds timer so I have something to see where I am at in the run. Every pull begins and ends almost exactly as the last.

It is becoming crystal clear that the yield is completely reflective of what your flower has to offer as the single most important variable imo.

If you end up with a tiny little gob don't forget to look at the flower it came from.

 

[Gonzo_Dabs]

Steama you're speaking my exact thoughts and experiences this past couple days. I have a seconds timer as well. Cheap little 1$ one. It's perfect.

It really does come down to the quality of flower for yield and color as well. I've gotten the hang of things, not as much as you Steama as I've only done about a dozen successful runs, but I can use my slug with damn near 100% confidence. And I've noticed the quality is really the biggest variable in the whole process. If your technique is solid that is.

@710Coils Sweet! Also I haven't forgotten about those 14mm female bangers. When I get the funds I will shoot you a PM regarding placing an order.

 

[steama]

Steama you're speaking my exact thoughts and experiences this past couple days. I have a seconds timer as well. Cheap little 1$ one. It's perfect.

It really does come down to the quality of flower for yield and color as well. I've gotten the hang of things, not as much as you Steama as I've only done about a dozen successful runs, but I can use my slug with damn near 100% confidence. And I've noticed the quality is really the biggest variable in the whole process. If your technique is solid that is.

@710Coils Sweet! Also I haven't forgotten about those 14mm female bangers. When I get the funds I will shoot you a PM regarding placing an order.

That is the best @Gonzo_Dabs -- @Nattybushdoctor made it easy as possible for all of us but people still gotta go through a lil herb to know.

You are really nailing it at this point if you are aiming for color too --- fantastic.

Still learning more tricks from this excellent thread all the time.

 

[Ramahs]

all of us but people still gotta go through a lil herb to know

Yeah. I feel ya. After my results from the other day, I tried to do a 4th press tonight, but got nothing out of the same material. I see how difficult this can be to get the torch temps timed right. This is gonna take some work (I tried to repress it like I did the first gram I pressed, with no positive results).

You told me that from the start, and now I don't have any more of that beginner's luck with my presses.

 

[Gonzo_Dabs]

The learning pains y'all are feeling right now are going to pay off. It's like learning to drive stick. It sucks in the early stages, you're gonna stall and grind gears, you're gonna panic when you're on your first dozen or so hills. But when you get it down you get that awesome feeling of being able to drive any car.

Same here. Blowouts. Wasted bud. Maybe even a small fire here and there. But you will get it.

 

[ClearBlueLou]

Thanks for a good post, Gonzo!

Your stick-shift analogy reminds me of when I learned. A girl and I were going to visit her mother in Denver, she said we’d take her friend Margaret’s car, a stick Beetle. She tossed me the keys, saying “you’re driving!”

“I don’t know how to drive a stick shift!!”
“You will by the time we get back”

I’ve only bought manual transmission vehicles since.

I’m biding my time. I have my seep kit, the torch is full, my forge is clean, my material is weighed (3.49g) and sitting in a jar with a boveda pack. Now all I have to do is be awake enough when my roomies retire tonight.

I’m curious about the pressing part, since it’s a sense thing: how many cranks / how much resistance to you get before you begin the heat? Do you can’t the screw constantly? Sometimes the sense of resistance is greater or lesser, how do you respond to these? How far into the press are you, visewise, when your switch sides with the torch? I feel somehow that the heating and the screwing should be happening at the same time in a way I’m not picking up on yet. Or, haven’t previously.

I know this is kinda “inner peace” stuff, but if you have a sense of what I’m asking about, I’d love to hear from you, all of you.

 

[Ramahs]

And to chime in with @ClearBlueLou's questions...can one crank it down too tight right at the end, with the 1g Slug, or should you just crank as tight as you can physically push that crank?

 

[ClearBlueLou]

Typically I’ve cranked it down, slowly, gently, until there was no more travel in the thread.

 

[steama]

crank that bitch...just don't break it

You want to time it so that when you are finished heating you have cranked it almost completely down. It is a timing thing.

You slowly crank down as you heat just put a little pressure on the crank and as it heats it moves very slightly with your crank pressure. Do this all the way to the end of the cranking.

Looking at your second count down clock try to time your cranking and heating to end at nearly the same time.

 

[Gonzo_Dabs]

Thanks for a good post, Gonzo!

Your stick-shift analogy reminds me of when I learned. A girl and I were going to visit her mother in Denver, she said we’d take her friend Margaret’s car, a stick Beetle. She tossed me the keys, saying “you’re driving!”

“I don’t know how to drive a stick shift!!”
“You will by the time we get back”

I’ve only bought manual transmission vehicles since.

I’m biding my time. I have my seep kit, the torch is full, my forge is clean, my material is weighed (3.49g) and sitting in a jar with a boveda pack. Now all I have to do is be awake enough when my roomies retire tonight.

I’m curious about the pressing part, since it’s a sense thing: how many cranks / how much resistance to you get before you begin the heat? Do you can’t the screw constantly? Sometimes the sense of resistance is greater or lesser, how do you respond to these? How far into the press are you, visewise, when your switch sides with the torch? I feel somehow that the heating and the screwing should be happening at the same time in a way I’m not picking up on yet. Or, haven’t previously.

I know this is kinda “inner peace” stuff, but if you have a sense of what I’m asking about, I’d love to hear from you, all of you.

I wish I had a story like that. That sounds like a hell of learning experience. I love old Beetles. I learned on the toyota I am rebuilding. Will never go back to autos. Or at least I will never only have an auto.


I've actually been hoping someone would ask that kind of question Lou! Haha I've been wanting to type out my process in detail to compare with others and hopefully teach some a little something as well.

So. I weigh out the gram and bust it up into popcorn kernel sized little nugs. But lately I've been doing larger pieces but I have noticed a slight decrease in yield. Maybe it's not related at all. I make sure to push the the material coming from the ass end in as much as I can. A little bumb slightly past the bottom of the slug is acceptable to me. I've had blowouts more often if I leave a wider piece hanging out. I use the piston to push it in from both ends. I use my finger to hold the opposite end in while I push with the piston. I crank the vice down enough until I feel it getting tighter. If you reaaally pay attention to the handle on the vice you can kinda feel the flower crunching down. This is all on a 1 gram slug by the way. The piston is about 1/3 of the way in. I set my timer for 1:10. I heat at the far end of the slug just before the washer at a slight angle pointing away from the parchment. The lighter blue "core" of the flame, which is at half power, is touching the slug so that the tip is "smushed" against the slug. Just the tip. I do this without moving the vice at all for 30 seconds. When the timer says :40 I start cranking. Slooooowly. I go slow enough to where when 5 seconds are left I'm done heating. The last 5 seconds are the bottoming out of the slug and the drip. I give I little twist at the end to seal the deal. Nothing big at all. By then it's usually audible. I hear the bubbling and gushing.


Yes you can crank too hard. I've cranked it to where i have to hold the vice down with my other hand. I get way more flower in the material and more often than not, blowouts. It shouldn't be hard. But you can give it a good twist and it should be good. I feel like if you exhale a bit of air or make a noise right after you are done twisting you did it too hard haha

 

[ClearBlueLou]

Thanks, man, that’s just the sort of thing I’d like to hear about. ‘Preciate it!

My stick-learning VW experience was almost exactly 48 years ago. Her name was Teri.

crank that bitch...just don't break it

You want to time it so that when you are finished heating you have cranked it almost completely down. It is a timing thing.

You slowly crank down as you heat just put a little pressure on the crank and as it heats it moves very slightly with your crank pressure. Do this all the way to the end of the cranking.

Looking at your second count down clock try to time your cranking and heating to end at nearly the same time.

Slow and steady wins the race, eh?

 

[steama]

Thanks, man, that’s just the sort of thing I’d like to hear about. ‘Preciate it!

My stick-learning VW experience was almost exactly 48 years ago. Her name was Teri.


Slow and steady wins the race, eh?

You can just jam the herb in all different sizes. Just make sure everything is packed in nice and tight.

Another way to understand this is that fluid (hot rosin) moves away from heat and pressure.

When you heat at the back end of the slug the heat slowly moves through the mass (out end) of the slug. You begin to apply a slight pressure but not enough to force the piston. As the heat softens the rosin the crank will slip ever so slightly. This means heated rosin is liquefying and moving towards the exit allowing the piston to slip. This cranking and heating loosens more and more rosin as it moves away from the heat and pressure to wards the exit. I am using a deuce and heating for 2:10 seconds. I begin heating and pressing simultaneously when I start the timer and end heating at 2:10 just needing to slowly press out the last bit of the run.

I think this method takes greater advantage of the fact the liquid moves away from heat and pressure.

I have tried this method mentioned above (heat for 30 second with out pressing). I find cranking slowly through the entire run yields much more for me. I think the constant pressure method may get you more rosin. I recommend trying both methods for sure.

No you can't press it too hard...at least I never have. I guess when it breaks I went too hard. I always give it a good final crank down everytime and no blowouts either. Blowouts for me have been only from putting too much herb into the slug.

 

[ClearBlueLou]

Upfront, I’ve never had a forge blowout.

So, I did the thing. I copied Gonzo in heating for :45 before starting to crank (more mass), and in how he positioned his flame, and I copied BornAgainSteama in pressing slowly and constantly, little by little, and I copied NBD in the timing of the heat, per the one Fat Mac video.

It went very smoothly and I extracted 0.315g. Not huge, slightly less than 10%, but better organized, better prepared, better executed (only one fire, a small one) than previously. I felt like I knew what I was doing - the torch position, the use of a stopwatch I could see from every point, it just felt very different this time.

And not a BIT of seepage.

Puck is very dry and not at all sticky, doesn’t even smell... weird, because this stuff is so strong, take a hit off it as flower and it smells like rosin, but the material is so dense, even well-humidified and torn into the smallest pieces I could. Part of me is sure there’s a bigger payoff in there, but short of an ETOH wash I don’t know how to get it. So probably time to strain the last three eights out of the ghee, grind up what’s left of them, and mix them back in with tonight’s puck added.

Not sayin’ I won’t have further questions, but I think I can repeat that, and even improve on it. But I think I’ll wait on a different batch of flower before my next one.

Thanks, friends, for all your encouragement and tips!

 

[steama]

Upfront, I’ve never had a forge blowout.

So, I did the thing. I copied Gonzo in heating for :45 before starting to crank (more mass), and in how he positioned his flame, and I copied BornAgainSteama in pressing slowly and constantly, little by little, and I copied NBD in the timing of the heat, per the one Fat Mac video.

It went very smoothly and I extracted 0.315g. Not huge, slightly less than 10%, but better organized, better prepared, better executed (only one fire, a small one) than previously. I felt like I knew what I was doing - the torch position, the use of a stopwatch I could see from every point, it just felt very different this time.

And not a BIT of seepage.

Puck is very dry and not at all sticky, doesn’t even smell... weird, because this stuff is so strong, take a hit off it as flower and it smells like rosin, but the material is so dense, even well-humidified and torn into the smallest pieces I could. Part of me is sure there’s a bigger payoff in there, but short of an ETOH wash I don’t know how to get it. So probably time to strain the last three eights out of the ghee, grind up what’s left of them, and mix them back in with tonight’s puck added.

Not sayin’ I won’t have further questions, but I think I can repeat that, and even improve on it. But I think I’ll wait on a different batch of flower before my next one.

Thanks, friends, for all your encouragement and tips!

You are nailing it.

One little tip on cranking the press (if you haven't already noticed). You only need to apply just enough pressure NOT to force the piston. When it gets warm enough the crank handle will move about 1/8" inch. Cranking goes this way, a slow semi-jerky movement through the entire run. Once I learned this crank pressure thing all the times and everything basically fell into place. The crank moves when it gets warm enough to move under gentle constant pressure.

 

[ClearBlueLou]

I’ve begun a conversation with him about a coil strap for my FM...I’ll keep y’all posted.

This morning, the goo on the paper is semi-stable, it no longer grabs and sticks to everything. I’ll collect it to silicone this afternoon. The goo looks green in quantity, but it is really a golden amber color with no green in it. It’s even a full ring.

Thanks, y’all, for sharing your experiences and perceptions with me. Made a difference!

 

[steama]

I’ve begun a conversation with him about a coil strap for my FM...I’ll keep y’all posted.

This morning, the goo on the paper is semi-stable, it no longer grabs and sticks to everything. I’ll collect it to silicone this afternoon. The goo looks green in quantity, but it is really a golden amber color with no green in it. It’s even a full ring.

Thanks, y’all, for sharing your experiences and perceptions with me. Made a difference!

If bud has most of the chlorophyll cured out of it the rosin color will be golden amber. If the herb has more chlorophyll in it the rosin could have a green tint. If pressing kief and it has a light green tint the rosin could also have a faint greenish tint.

 

[ClearBlueLou]

Agree. This only has any green to it when it’s as thick as a drop, spread more thinly, as I (and you) say it is a pure golden color without even a hit of green. Curious.

 

[steama]

Agree. This only has any green to it when it’s as thick as a drop, spread more thinly, as I (and you) say it is a pure golden color without even a hit of green. Curious.

If your rosin is green it is from the chlorophyll in the material you are pressing.

If you cure your herb to get rid of the chlorophyll you end up with golden buds and no chlorophyll.

If you press flower that is green and not cured it may have high levels of green chlorophyll in your rosin possibly giving it a slight greenish hue.

 

[ClearBlueLou]

Pretty sure it was cured before I got it, but no way of finding out how.

I’ve had chlorophyll in extracted wax before, this shows no sign of pigment or coloration. I’m pretty sure it’s lke NBD says on YT, it only looks dark in quantity, in bad light. My guess is that it has to do with the way extract refracts the light that hits it, because it’s definitely amber-colored when picking it off the parchment; you need it backlit to see the color as the picked mass grows, but it’s not green.

 

[steama]

Pretty sure it was cured before I got it, but no way of finding out how.

I’ve had chlorophyll in extracted wax before, this shows no sign of pigment or coloration. I’m pretty sure it’s lke NBD says on YT, it only looks dark in quantity, in bad light. My guess is that it has to do with the way extract refracts the light that hits it, because it’s definitely amber-colored when picking it off the parchment; you need it backlit to see the color as the picked mass grows, but it’s not green.

chlorophyll
a green pigment, present in all green plants and in cyanobacteria, responsible for the absorption of light to provide energy for photosynthesis. Its molecule contains a magnesium atom held in a porphyrin ring.
______________

You can tell if cannabis has been properly cured by looking at the general look of the bud and the trichomes with a loop or magnifying glass. You need to know what you are looking at.

Well cured herb is no longer green but more golden in color with a ghost of faded green. Chlorophyll is the substance that makes herb or tobacco harsh to smoke. The entire point of curing came from the need to remove chlorophyll to make tobacco or cannabis smoother and less harsh during smoking. Nearly all the trichomes will be from clear amber to milky amber.

This is the point I enjoy cannabis the most. When it has cured and the trichomes have turned to a milky amber in color. I think it is also the best time to make rosin goo too.

 

[ClearBlueLou]

By that measure, my material is *not* well-cured.
It is not golden in any part but the squeezings.

FTR, I do know what chlorophyll is, and I used to do ETOH/ISO extracts, where chlorophyll can be a real issue. Anyway, not trying to prove a point, and I infer that you are sure it’s chlorophyll. Maybe so, too bad, I’m not going to winterize it, I’m keeping it just like it is.

Also, I’ve never had herb that showed trichomes, so it’s still a dream for my future

 

[steama]

By that measure, my material is *not* well-cured.
It is not golden in any part but the squeezings.

FTR, I do know what chlorophyll is, and I used to do ETOH/ISO extracts, where chlorophyll can be a real issue. Anyway, not trying to prove a point, and I infer that you are sure it’s chlorophyll. Maybe so, too bad, I’m not going to winterize it, I’m keeping it just like it is.

Also, I’ve never had herb that showed trichomes, so it’s still a dream for my future

So much depends on the cultivar that determines the outcome of your sap from a run. Nothing is a surety but most of this stuff has a general direction things go. If your bud looks like it was dipped in sugar the odds are pretty good it will make sweet rosin yields but this is not always guaranteed. Not all herb presses the same. Still, if the herb sparkles you may have something that could make a lot of goo.

Winterizing to to get rid of waxes and lipids? Are you talking about using solvents to remove wax and lipids? I don't ever remember suggesting anything like winterizing and I have never done it anyway. I like my rosin straight from the slug nice and pure. I see no good reason anyone should adulterate their rosin with solvents. It kind of goes against the entire point of rosin one would think?

Getting rid of chlorophyll can be done easily with a jar cure manipulating moisture levels over time or a water cure can also remove chlorophyll, however, I would never water cure any bud. I hate water cures as I feel it degrades the herb taste way too much, still some like it.

K.I.S.S.
keep it simple sir

edit:
ALL CANNABIS flower has trichomes brother...it is high time you get a loop! Even shit weed has trichomes if you magnify the herb you will see them, few though they may be on shit buds.

If you are getting any green in your results it could be fine green plant dust. Some people make kief by rubbing low grade on screens and there is always a tint of green with this kind of stuff. Most nice buds should make a golden rosin...even dry green buds.