Gear Slug .33 Rosin Forge

[Abysmal Vapor]

@BornAgainSteama Actually i tried 500 mesh screen and it trapped a lot of rosin. I cannot tell what mesh is the pipe screen but looks below 80 which should be the size of vapexhale elb mesh i think. ,so lets say more like 60.It doesnt really filter rosin like the filters on the big presses but keeps large chunks away.

 

[steama]

@BornAgainSteama Actually i tried 500 mesh screen and it trapped a lot of rosin. I cannot tell what mesh is the pipe screen but looks below 80 which should be the size of vapexhale elb mesh i think. ,so lets say more like 60.It doesnt really filter rosin like the filters on the big presses but keeps large chunks away.

Yeah, I was thinking that a screen would work a little differently than the large presses. My idea, from you, is to cut some medium mesh screen to fit the large inner diameter of the slug. I can see how a screen may contain a blowout better than without it. It's worth a try anyway though I really don't get blowouts anymore.

 

[Bandoo]

@BornAgainSteama Mesh screen (16mm) helps a lot with not getting blowouts and particles in my rosin. I get a 2-4 small dabs worth rosin. And for the record the screen doesnt hold a lot of rosin in ,i try vaping it,nothing really came up from it . Anyway still figuring this out,but i am glad i am getting results without paper.
Here is what i like about metal foil :
1. Reusable
2. No flaking,no dangers of silicon in rosin.
3.Collection is not as bad i thought it will. For now i find much easier to scrape the goo ,than to find the perfect temp for removing it from the silicon paper..

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Hi AV,
Very good news about using the stainless foil instead of the coated paper!
I hope some others try it with different presses...
Like we are doing this for our health, right?

Modnote: Reply removed from quote tags

 

[ClearBlueLou]

See the color change in the blade? Where you forged?
This suggests to me that you’ve altered the temper of the cleaver blade.
What this means is that the blade may have become brittle in response to the heat, and may break under normal use. Be careful, warn others in the household, and/or replace it at the first chance.

 

[Abysmal Vapor]

@ClearBlueLou Lol,bro this photo is from the internet. The cleaver i have is 4mm thick stainless steel,it can stop a bullet.Steel gets forged at 1400 C,you will be having really hard time making it brittle with butane ,also the contact zone is subject to no more than 130 C .., you slug would have gone brittle if those torches are powerful enough to do anything.. The vise iteself is only as powerful as you are,i am sure it is near impossible to brake this cleaver with human power also the jaws of my cheap vise seem that will give up first,because they dont look like they are forged steel,just regular one.
@Bandoo Well other presses have driptech. Aluminum is too soft and it can get scarred if the foil gets fluted while pressing with 20 tonnes. Maybe it is an option with stainless steel ones.. Anyway decided to try the slug first mainly because it is SS and there is no danger of damaging it.
I did one press on double sided unbleaced paper it was a ncie press,but after it i expected the impact point under 100x and i could see a lots of flakes,fibers and stuff. I tried too look at the rosin itself but there were also some particles in it,but i cannot really tell if it was silicone or herb particles. Will continue to pursue my luck with the foil,hopefully i will start to yield decent.

 

[ClearBlueLou]

Do you have a link for your foil?

Reading a stock net.image invalidates everything I said...except the general warning to beware of tempered steel blades and localized heat. I had an axe which got sharpened by an inattentive lout who in additiion to the bad job of sharpening, also scorched the blade a one point. Next round of use, a chunk broke off the blade edge.

 

[steama]

The easiest collection method is parchment chilled on a flat frozen block then just dab off the goods. Takes all of one minute. It also does not disturb the surface coating of the parchment which is baked into the paper anyway.

See if you can use the frozen block method with the aluminum foil. A good chill works wonders with rosin on parchment. Maybe it will work with foil also if that is what you wish to use.

 

[ClearBlueLou]

I’m not dissatisfied with parchment, just figured I’d try to be open to a new idea...

 

[PPN]

I'm lost in a forest of branches to trim and made a pause cause I want to share an idea I got: what about to press on a marble plate?

There is a marble I use for leather which sits around and I thought it might be something nice to press against and collection might not be too difficult... any thoughts?

 

[steama]

I'm lost in a forest of branches to trim and made a pause cause I want to share an idea I got: what about to press on a marble plate?

There is a marble I use for leather which sits around and I thought it might be something nice to press against and collection might not be too difficult... any thoughts?

I would fear cracking the marble leather working plate under the vise pressure -- CRACK!

I would look for a piece of flat metal or a large coin. Those marble leather working plates are nice don't break it if you do not need too.

Then again I don't know shit about marble.

 

[ClearBlueLou]

I'm lost in a forest of branches to trim and made a pause cause I want to share an idea I got: what about to press on a marble plate?

There is a marble I use for leather which sits around and I thought it might be something nice to press against and collection might not be too difficult... any thoughts?

I have to say the thinking about pressing surfaces has gone from out-of-the-box to out-for-a-beer...even the best marble under the highest polish can still have surface variations that would easily trap pressed goo...add to that the localized strain of the press on the marble itself, and the best I can say is you stand to lose more goo (and the marble) than you gain.

Try it out, by all means, I think I’m going to try the metal-foil idea, if only so I can talk about it intelligently, and I’ll have most of a roll of .07mm foil if I find a different use for it (and I might). For me, the value and risk of marble is greater than the value and risk of parchment paper, and I recommend trying your experiment with the understanding there’s as much chance you destroy the marble as successfully forge onto it.

Science: live it, or live *with* it!

I look forward to your success...

 

[ClearBlueLou]

Say, @Abysmal Vapor - you said you SCRAPED your pressings off the plate? You didn’t use any sort of barrier or release layer at all? What did you use for the scraping, and how good a job would you say you did of it? 80%? 90?

 

[PPN]

Yes, press on marble is maybe not a good idea... I didn't tried, not cause I'm afraid to break it (Idon't think it might happens under the pressure used and it's thick) but cause all the small imperfections making the rosin to "soak" in the marble.

Still not tried again my Deuce but I acquired a bigger torch better designed to heat this thing (as well my Elev8r) and will proceed to further tests when my weed will be dry enough.

 

[Abysmal Vapor]

Just got a big fat drop with the foil and tiny screen. Fuckin nailed it this time. I heated till the exterior of the far end to 140 C inside after the press was 115C. Chip looked completely cashed,i am very satisfied. The slug rocks ,i was in a bit of disbelief due to some failures ,but now that i saw what is capable of,i am going to pursue similar results.. I managed to get 95% of it via razor @ClearBlueLou . What is cool about it is that you can reuse the same sheet all over again without hte need of cleaning it. No herb gets on it thanks to the screen,also it drips really well and fast on this surface.

 

[steama]

Just got a big fat drop with the foil and tiny screen. Fuckin nailed it this time. I heated till the exterior of the far end to 140 C inside after the press was 115C. Chip looked completely cashed,i am very satisfied. The slug rocks ,i was in a bit of disbelief due to some failures ,but now that i saw what is capable of,i am going to pursue similar results.. I managed to get 95% of it via razor @ClearBlueLou . What is cool about it is that you can reuse the same sheet all over again without hte need of cleaning it. No herb gets on it thanks to the screen,also it drips really well and fast on this surface.

I think it is really cool the way you explore to get the job done your way. So I have a couple of questions. Are you pressing on an aluminum plate using foil? I am having a bit of difficulty accurately visualizing what you are doing. Are you scraping rosin off of a thicker piece of aluminum or something like foil? Also you mention the screen which makes me wonder what are the dimensions and mesh of your screen?

It would be very nice to see a photo or two. Personally, sometimes I don't dig sharing images and other times I don't mind so forgive me for any intrusion.

 

[Abysmal Vapor]

I think it is really cool the way you explore to get the job done your way. So I have a couple of questions. Are you pressing on an aluminum plate using foil? I am having a bit of difficulty accurately visualizing what you are doing. Are you scraping rosin off of a thicker piece of aluminum or something like foil? Also you mention the screen which makes me wonder what are the dimensions and mesh of your screen?

It would be very nice to see a photo or two. Personally, sometimes I don't dig sharing images and other times I don't mind so forgive me for any intrusion.

I will try to snap a photo of the setup at some point.But to get a better idea . I am using foil similar to this one,but it looks a bit shinier with a mirror finish,
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1pcs-304-S...il-0-2mm-x-100mm-x-1000mm-E6-21-/181485388825

The mesh is this one.

 

[steama]

I will try to snap a photo of the setup at some point.But to get a better idea . I am using foil similar to this one,but it looks a bit shinier with a mirror finish,
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1pcs-304-S...il-0-2mm-x-100mm-x-1000mm-E6-21-/181485388825

The mesh is this one.

Aluminum flashing...that makes sense. Perfect choice if you are going with a metal surface.

What I would like to know is if you get a box of frozen veggies, of a flat ice box cooling block, or even a TV dinner. Then place the harvest of your squish and the aluminum on top of the frozen surface. Can you collect the rosin by dabbing and lifting the rosin off the chilled aluminum surface easily like parchment paper does?

 

[ClearBlueLou]

That’s 304 stainless steel, not aluminum...and a good thing, since he’s scraping it.
I’ve got a roll of that (or just like it) in my basket right now.

Not sold on it as a pressing surface, so I think my main move will be to cut off 100mm which will give me a nominal 4” square. I’ll use that as a support base for the parchment, which would remove one of my big issues w/ it, I think...

My big sticking point with the metal recovery plate is first, the lack of a release layer: without it, I think the goo will stick to it like it does to anything (except, well, silicone), which forces either the washing of the plate with a solvent, or the scraping of the plate with *something*, with a single-edge razor as the obvious go-to. What’s wrong with this in my view is that given a bare metal plate and the monkey-grip goo, it’s inevitable that eventually , you’re going to get metal shavings. Maybe the plate as it wears, maybe the razor as it dulls itself scraping the plate - most likely the combination over time, but heavy metal poisoning is no joke, and I don’t want to take those chances. I already have enough shit I’ve breathed in over the decades. Hot metal microbes don’t have to join them.

By comparison, risk-wise, the silicone presents by far the lesser risk. If that’s too great, there’s always edibles.

Not trying to down your scheme, AV - I just can’t resist a good thought experiment. The real info is where you put the metal to the metal, I guess. Just the view from here.

 

[ClearBlueLou]

Just got a big fat drop with the foil and tiny screen. Fuckin nailed it this time. I heated till the exterior of the far end to 140 C inside after the press was 115C. Chip looked completely cashed,i am very satisfied. The slug rocks ,i was in a bit of disbelief due to some failures ,but now that i saw what is capable of,i am going to pursue similar results.. I managed to get 95% of it via razor @ClearBlueLou . What is cool about it is that you can reuse the same sheet all over again without hte need of cleaning it. No herb gets on it thanks to the screen,also it drips really well and fast on this surface.

Congratulations on your success! Your temp was about 225F?

I like the basics approach, but wonder what you find wrong with the straight PTFE sheets? Isn’t it supposed to be impervious? Does it exude or out-gas? My main issue wth it so far is that it’s not recyclable...but it’s not made to be permanent. I see that as a problem. If they’re considered ‘consumable’, I won’t use them. I don’t even know how long they might last under repeated use...or really what their properties are.

Synchronicity: I was just presented with one perfect drop from a slug. Perfectly smooth dome, cloudy amber, 1cm across. Beautiful. I need to practice, the boy’s got my game....

 

[Abysmal Vapor]

@ClearBlueLou PTFE is a health hazard at certain temps also it flakes easily. Well yeah 225 F on the inside. You wont get any shavings if you dont use extra force and bad angle when scraping and also keep the flat shape of the foil.For the record the razor i use feels softer and thinner than the foil,if i am careful it would never scracth the surface. I can show a photo of mine after some time to see that it doesnt have any disturbanses on the mirror finish. @BornAgainSteama I use SS304(common cookware material of choice), not Aluminium. The latter is too soft and after getting headaches with the SV-2,i would never want this leeching into the rosin,as it does with acidic foods.
Well you cant pull and snap like with parchment,at least i havent tried chilling long enough,collecting with a razor is easy enough at this point for me. I will put it on the list of things to try,and will let you know how it goes. I really prefer collecting it while it is caramel consistency,rather than try to find the perfect temp,so i can avoid flying crystal daggers .
Edited:
@ClearBlueLou Dude, it is impossible to get metal poisoning of SS of that ammout,also it likely gets trapped in water or stick to the reclaim. Do you know how much metal dusts flies around the world.. Drilling and cutting is done in the open all the time..Also that scenario is present everytime you chop you veggies with the steel knife.
What i am worried about is offgassing and shitty taste. Silicone over 220C is not a good thing,you can look it up. When using a banger one can easily overdo the temps and get some nasty monoxides. Also when cooking with it ,i can clealy smell the silicone when opening the oven door even at safe temps.
I have my experience with various materials used in vaporizers and i can clearly say i will always have problems with silicone,ptfe and aluminum present in the airpath.
For the record i am not trying to save myself that much of ""the great health hazards"",rather than trying to keep things as pure as posible so my Jedi senses dont get raped by feeling of impurity .

 

[ClearBlueLou]

Thanks for the temp verification.
!

@ClearBlueLou PTFE is a health hazard at certain temps also it flakes easily. Well yeah 225 F on the inside. You wont get any shavings if you dont use extra force and bad angle when scraping and also keep the flat shape of the foil.For the record the razor i use feels softer and thinner than the foil,if i am careful it would never scracth the surface. I can show a photo of mine after some time to see that it doesnt have any disturbanses on the mirror finish. @BornAgainSteama I use SS304(common cookware material of choice), not Aluminium. The latter is too soft and after getting headaches with the SV-2,i would never want this leeching into the rosin,as it does with acidic foods.
Well you cant pull and snap like with parchment,at least i havent tried chilling long enough,collecting with a razor is easy enough at this point for me. I will put it on the list of things to try,and will let you know how it goes. I really prefer collecting it while it is caramel consistency,rather than try to find the perfect temp,so i can avoid flying crystal daggers .
Edited:
@ClearBlueLou Dude, it is impossible to get metal poisoning of SS of that ammout,also it likely gets trapped in water or stick to the reclaim. Do you know how much metal dusts flies around the world.. Drilling and cutting is done in the open all the time..Also that scenario is present everytime you chop you veggies with the steel knife.
What i am worried about is offgassing and shitty taste. Silicone over 220C is not a good thing,you can look it up. When using a banger one can easily overdo the temps and get some nasty monoxides. Also when cooking with it ,i can clealy smell the silicone when opening the oven door even at safe temps.
I have my experience with various materials used in vaporizers and i can clearly say i will always have problems with silicone,ptfe and aluminum present in the airpath.
For the record i am not trying to save myself that much of ""the great health hazards"",rather than trying to keep things as pure as posible so my Jedi senses dont get raped by feeling of impurity .

Great comment! Compliments to the chef!

You raise a valid point about water capturing metal. I expect the same would apply to Aluminum too

Please understand, I KNOW I’m a rank beginner. I was relaying how the scenario worked out when I ran it, but that’s MY attempt to work it through, not me trying to tell you you’re wrong. I freely admit that I haven’t had a chance to learn what you know. I’m getting some of that same foiland I’ll attempt to apply your method because I’m smart enough to know that I don’t have everything figured out just because it makes sense to me (learning about the endocannabinod system is shaking up a lot of things in my thinking).

 

[Gonzo_Dabs]

I'm also of the opinion that a cold surface is the best way of collection. It isn't really a matter of finding a perfect temp. Get a little bit of unchilled rosin on the end of your tool. Put your foil or parchment on a freezer pack or chilled surface for 10 seconds and tap the rosin with the sticky tip of your tool. It only needs to harden a small amount. It doesn't need to be fully solid to where it shatters. I have lost some rosin by having it send shards off into the distance so I understand. But once I stopped scraping and starting lightly tapping it became a breeze. I've gotten it to where I have been able to pull off damn near the whole ring of rosin intact from the parchment. It gets very stable once it cools even a bit. But again the variables in each of our individual setups and materials probably have a lot to do with our differences.

I am toying with the idea of getting a SS funnel/plate thing made to press directly onto to completely get away from paper or foil or what have you. It would be a tear dropped shaped piece of metal with raised edges and it would taper down to a funnel thing. It would be small and I would probably have it drip the rosin into a glass container beneath the vice somehow. I would even think that you could drip it onto parchment just as a middle ground if your vice doesn't have room for a container below the slug. If the paper isn't subjected to any pressure or heat at all I would assume all worry about silicon in our rosin would be gone.

 

[ClearBlueLou]

It’s an interesting idea, Gonzo, but this stuff is like pine sap, it sticks, and it oozes more than it flows. How do you see this working out?

@Abysmal Vapor, I understand you’re not a fragile health flower. I’m willing to simply assume that dabbing thru water will trap any metal that might conceivably enter the vape stream, and say no more about it.

Re: silicone, I realize outgassing is a thing, but it can’t be a continuos process or the material would deteriorate, I’d think. Have you tried purging your silicone in the oven @ its ceiling temp? I would think that it would exhaust its off-gas potential relatively quickly. I have not tried this myself, but I have a number of new silicone baking items which I’ve not used yet. I propose to wash them all thoroughly, dry them, and then bring them all up to [*temp*] for [*time*] and then let them cool in the open air. It seems reasonable to me that this would reduce or complete the process. For comparison, I will compare their smell to my original silpat baking liner at various points.

FTR I have never noticed any odd smells coming from anything silicone, and for complete candor I have utterly no idea what silicone smells like or what its outgassing smells like. Maybe I’ll find out by doing this.

Not out to prove anything, not actively concerned, but since the undesirability of silicone due to outgassing has been raised, it’s got me curious, and for me, that can get sciencey and often involves theorizing, testing, elbow engineering and thinking out loud a lot.

Oh: don’t let your limbic system drive your Jedi senses (and vice versa) or they will deceive you.

 

[Abysmal Vapor]

@ClearBlueLou Your questions are very welcome. I am a bit scatterbrained this days,but i try to address points.
I totally agree that there can be flaking ,but it will be very minimal and i will rather have Surgical steel,than Silicone,PTFE,mainly from health conserns and cause i am a metalhead.. I am just trying not to add things to the rosin that have the potential to offgas at certain dabbing/vaping temps.
I got once in to the deal with the SV-2 believing it is aircraft aluminum with really high temp resistance..,well getting headaches after everybowl was no fun experience.I see how people get confused by the high melting or boiling points of materials,while in reality offgassing temps and sublimination temps are way below those. After that experience i try to stay away from tin/aluminum foils and shit,dont wanna get the "aluminum fever" again ...
On the silicone subject - Silicone will offgass at certain temps (above 200-220 C) no matter if it is cured or not. I havent attempted purging it . I can help but have really sharp sense for smell and taste.. Even a tiny hair ruins the vape experience for me,one of the reasons i wanted to try rosin actually.
@Gonzo_Dabs I agree it is far easier collected from parchment. I havent messed with funneling,even though it was one of the first things that came to mind or just adding paper to drip on ,because collecting is not hard even like i am doing it.
I dont have the opportunity to play to much with the slug because my stash is always limited,but there are things on the list to be done,once completed i will post my thoughts about the various techniques/surfaces for collection.

 

[ClearBlueLou]

@ClearBlueLou Your questions are very welcome. I am a bit scatterbrained this days,but i try to address points.
I totally agree that there can be flaking ,but it will be very minimal and i will rather have Surgical steel,than Silicone,PTFE,mainly from health conserns and cause i am a metalhead.. I am just trying not to add things to the rosin that have the potential to offgas at certain dabbing/vaping temps.
I got once in to the deal with the SV-2 believing it is aircraft aluminum with really high temp resistance..,well getting headaches after everybowl was no fun experience.I see how people get confused by the high melting or boiling points of materials,while in reality offgassing temps and sublimination temps are way below those. After that experience i try to stay away from tin/aluminum foils and shit,dont wanna get the "aluminum fever" again ...
On the silicone subject - Silicone will offgass at certain temps (above 200-220 C) no matter if it is cured or not. I havent attempted purging it . I can help but have really sharp sense for smell and taste.. Even a tiny hair ruins the vape experience for me,one of the reasons i wanted to try rosin actually.
@Gonzo_Dabs I agree it is far easier collected from parchment. I havent messed with funneling,even though it was one of the first things that came to mind or just adding paper to drip on ,because collecting is not hard even like i am doing it.
I dont have the opportunity to play to much with the slug because my stash is always limited,but there are things on the list to be done,once completed i will post my thoughts about the various techniques/surfaces for collection.

I understand the impulse to add *nothing* to the experience: hard to calibrate performance without a predictable fuel...at my age, taste and smell are not as intense as they once were, but they’re not gone, or really even muted, but as I said, I am really a beginner at the concentrate game, no matter how long I’ve dabbled in it. I’ve never had what I’d call a bad-tasting or off-flavor dab, and I find the aroma from them to be delicious and kind of exhilarating.

From the taste, to health considerations regarding ‘amendments’, to long-term medicinal use, I’m right there with you on having a pure, whole product: availability of fresh, pure whole rosin was my main motivation for getting my Slug. Personally, I won’t use aluminum for or with anything to be taken topically, inhaled, or ingested. I imagine vaping a hair would taste nasty, for sure!

I appreciate your responses, enjoying the exchange!