TIFU, I put about 250g into a coffee grinder and now I have a crapload of dust. Some questions?

[Kief]

Thanks! I did try one and my arthritis makes it uncomfortable to hold the battery in.

How about the FlashVape? I know it likes dust, but I've never used one.

So is there really no powered grinder that can produce an effective grind for vaping use?

There is, search eBay or Amazon for "electric herb grinder", you'll see a few different inexpensive battery powered grinders. There are reports of them working pretty good, but they are cheap and you get what you pay for.

As mentioned before, any electric grinder (especially a coffee grinder) needs to be "pulsed" instead of a steady "on" to get your desired consistency... just tap the button and let it settle each time before tapping it again. Check it after every few pulses to until you learn how many you need. You should try to master your coffee grinder before you decide you need something else, just don't grind your stuff to dust.

With all of that said... I do not like using electric grinders to purposely get an extra fine grind (for my MFLB), I believe the extra grinding it takes to get it fine also removes too many trichomes. The goodies end up getting stuck on the blades and just keep gathering the finest dust... soon there's a resin ball covering the edge of the blade, it's not even cutting worth a fuck, and those tasty goodies are in the grinder instead of my vape. This isn't an issue as long as I don't grind it to dust.

@na0landy, What brand and size of manual grinder(s) have you tried? The small 2" Santa Cruz Shredder is well known to be very easy on the hands, may be worth looking into. There's also a lot of great info for all types in the Herb Grinders thread.

 

[snamuh]

@na0landy
You can take the rubber piece out of the magic flight launch box and I believe that makes it so you dont have to hold the battery. Instead you just slip the battery in and pull it out... (as opposed constantly pressing it in, that's a bitch even without arthritis)... the Magic Flight thrives off fine grinds.. (complete powder/kief might get annoying to clean)

Also the pollen press is a great idea too... I got herb like that a long time ago... you just break off bits at a time you dont load the whole puck...

I've used a coffee grinder in the past... pulsing is key, also keep checking on the grind to make sure its not over done. I never liked the coffee grinder because even with regular medium grinds it still produces some dust and that's a pain to get out/gets wasted/gets in the air. There may be better design out there though.

Good luck!

 

[HD Springer]

My very first vape i bought was a palm 2 (dont laugh).I still have this very vape for kief loads only.Thats all i think its strong enough to handle.But it does wonderful hits with this powder.This mflb now has an external power and if you remove that pesky o ring.Easy peasy squeezey.

 

[Skeena]

A coffee grinder can be used again in the future, just be careful and pulse the grinder so it does not become dust.

 

[RUDE BOY]

A coffee grinder can be used again in the future, just be careful and pulse the grinder so it does not become dust.

I'd also recommend grinding just a few grams at a time instead of 250 in one go, I'd try 2-3gm to start with.

 

[na0landy]

@snamuh, @Skeena, @RUDE BOY, Thanks all! I have to say, I am kind of gun shy about going back to the coffee grinder, as you might imagine . I am going to move cautiously next time, I will start with giving @Keif's manual grinder suggestion a try and I will be buying one of those herb grinders to test out on a very(!) small amount.

How about the FlashVape? I know it likes dust, but I've never used one.

<snip>

@na0landy, What brand and size of manual grinder(s) have you tried? The small 2" Santa Cruz Shredder is well known to be very easy on the hands, may be worth looking into. There's also a lot of great info for all types in the Herb Grinders thread.

I will look into the Flashvape, thanks! Besides crappy plastic ones, and a couple from China, I have a 4 piece Spacecase and a 2 pice Californina crusher (might not be the right brand name). I will pick up the Santa Cuz on my next import order and give that a try as, if it works on my hands, that may be the exact solution I need. Thank you!

 

[NinjaMindTriks]

The vapman with its new heating station seems like it would be perfect for your needs.

 

[Delta3DStudios]

I am going to move cautiously next time, I will start with giving @Keif's manual grinder suggestion a try and I will be buying one of those herb grinders to test out on a very(!) small amount.

You know, one of @pakalolo's favorite methods for grinding is a clear pill bottle and a coin. It's cheap, and easy to use, no twisting action is needed, just a bit of shaking

 

[pakalolo]

How about the FlashVape? I know it likes dust, but I've never used one.

The FV is my #1 device. One of the reasons is that it can handle just about anything you throw at it, BUT (this is a big but) the FV has a steep learning curve. Without the power adapter, it takes practice to know when to take your finger off the button. The FV Turbo is really quick to heat up (2-3 seconds) and gets a lot hotter than most portables. (I said portable, but the FV is really not a pocket vapourizer.)

The FV uses a tabbed screen above the heater screen. This gives it tremendous flexibility in how you use it. If you insert the ceramic spacer between the screens, the FV becomes a convection vape. If you don't use the spacer, it is conduction. If you don't use a tabbed screen at all, you can actually dab onto the heater screen but this is tricky and I don't recommend it. The tabbed screen is easily removed and cleaned, which is why it can handle fine dust or kief. It has a large surface are so it doesn't clog too quickly, and if it does clog it is easy to remove and clean with an ISO soak.

Speaking of which, @na0landy: the percent of ISO tells you the ratio of alcohol to water. 70% ISO is fine for extracts, it just takes longer for the alcohol to evaporate. It is also good for cleaning, and in fact some types of plastic won't tolerate a higher percentage.

My very first vape i bought was a palm 2 (dont laugh).

I wouldn't laugh because I had a Palm 2 and it was one of the best devices I've ever used for flavour.

You know, one of @pakalolo's favorite methods for grinding is a clear pill bottle and a coin. It's cheap, and easy to use, no twisting action is needed, just a bit of shaking

People have scoffed at this but those are people who obviously have never tried it. The fine grind on the right in this picture was produced by shaking in a pill bottle:

​

For context, the grind on the left is a medium grind from a Sharpstone four-piece grinder. I collect kief in this and I just ran some through the FV as proof of concept. I used kief because it is the finest material I have. The FV handled it beautifully, producing wonderful flavour. The kief clumped together in a layer that stuck to the tabbed screen. It wasn't difficult to scrape off but it did clog the screen a little. I cleared it by using a butane torch. The fine grind above is in my FV now and it works nicely. It is clumping a little but it's not clogging like the kief.

na0landy, while I think the FV could handle your stash, I think you would probably be better off with a Haze, if that's feasible. It's flexible and doesn't have the FV's steep learning curve. The can system will do the job for you. I just tried that fine grind in a Haze can and it works nicely at temperature setting 3.

 

[Enchantre]

Just an idea. Why not try putting some cotton (thin) on top of your fine bud as a filter. It will vape your material that way. After the cotton gets real stiff you can vape that alone in your unit with all the oils that have accumulated. Good luck with that. You don't want to do anything to waste your medicine.

I've seen those contraptions to make hash too.

I second the cotton wisp in the enano stem or gong. Put it under the screen, between the screen and your mouth - ENano, herb, screen, cotton, you/your water tool - a very thin wisp will do.

I have found that the screen that @Ed's TnT uses for his stems and wongs holds kief extremely well, and I use it alone with my Ed's stem. This might be workable for you, and you can use the vaporizer you already have, just with a new stem. Another idea, is double your basket screen that you are using now.. put a second one in.

Just use less "dust" than you would regular grind herb. A nice pinch to barely cover the screen. With the cotton or extra screen following, you should have less of an issue.

If it were me, I'd be simmering that in oil or butter... but, you need what you need

 

[na0landy]

The vapman with its new heating station seems like it would be perfect for your needs.

Not familiar with the Vapman, I will check that out, thanks!

You know, one of @pakalolo's favorite methods for grinding is a clear pill bottle and a coin. It's cheap, and easy to use, no twisting action is needed, just a bit of shaking

OMG if this works, this would solve my problem, can't wait to try it out! Now the pharmacies don't use pill bottles here, you buy medicine in the original sealed manufacturer's packaging so there is no tampering, so I am going to have to find a substitute.

The FV is my #1 device....

Speaking of which, @na0landy: the percent of ISO tells you the ratio of alcohol to water. 70% ISO is fine for extracts, it just takes longer for the alcohol to evaporate. It is also good for cleaning, and in fact some types of plastic won't tolerate a higher percentage.

People have scoffed at this but those are people who obviously have never tried it. The fine grind on the right in this picture was produced by shaking in a pill bottle:

na0landy, while I think the FV could handle your stash, I think you would probably be better off with a Haze, if that's feasible. It's flexible and doesn't have the FV's steep learning curve. The can system will do the job for you. I just tried that fine grind in a Haze can and it works nicely at temperature setting 3.

Holy cow, this is just amazing info wish I could like your post a few dozen more times!! I was just about to buy a Crafty and discovered that its out of stock at the store I wanted to buy at. I've just watched a few vids on the Haze and I like the looks of it. I think I will pick that up and maybe a Mighty if I can find it on sale.

That info on the 70% ISO is gold but, if I may ask, would you know anyone that has IRL used 70% ISO to make a good exaction? Sometimes things are sound in theory but then doesn't work like it should when you do it. The thing is, ever since I fucked up and turned my medicine into dust, I've been desperately wanting to do an extraction with Ejmix but the risk of screwing up and losing my med supply till the next harvest has held me back.

I am so excited about the coin and pill bottle method, my nephew seems to have found a line on purchasing some new street level meds for me, so I will definitely be trying this out if that pans out.

Thank you so much @pakalolo!!

I second the cotton wisp in the enano stem or gong. Put it under the screen, between the screen and your mouth - ENano, herb, screen, cotton, you/your water tool - a very thin wisp will do.

I have found that the screen that @Ed's TnT uses for his stems and wongs holds kief extremely well, and I use it alone with my Ed's stem. This might be workable for you, and you can use the vaporizer you already have, just with a new stem. Another idea, is double your basket screen that you are using now.. put a second one in.

Just use less "dust" than you would regular grind herb. A nice pinch to barely cover the screen. With the cotton or extra screen following, you should have less of an issue.

If it were me, I'd be simmering that in oil or butter... but, you need what you need

Wow, that stuff from @Ed's TnT looks amazing. The Cocobolo one has my attention big time. I will pick one up and give it a try, I've been needing a 2nd stem as well so it works out. I've been using the cotton and it works very well, still trying to find some steel wool to try that as well. I will try your tip on the double screen, didn't think of that but I have a bunch of extra screens, thank you!

 

[Havelock Vetenari]

Thanks! I did try one and my arthritis makes it uncomfortable to hold the battery in.

Getting the poweradapter(http://sales.magic-flight.com/power-adapter-2-0-1) should alleviate a lot of that.
It delivers just that bit more power and doesn't deplete, which IME with the rechargable batteries can lead to trying to get more power out of the battery by pushing it harder(not gonna work of course, but again IME hard not too do.)
So if you still have a 'lot' of quite fine/powdery product left, you might consider that, but other then that i can only defer to the excellent contributors already here.

 

[pakalolo]

That info on the 70% ISO is gold but, if I may ask, would you know anyone that has IRL used 70% ISO to make a good exaction? Sometimes things are sound in theory but then doesn't work like it should when you do it. The thing is, ever since I fucked up and turned my medicine into dust, I've been desperately wanting to do an extraction with Ejmix but the risk of screwing up and losing my med supply till the next harvest has held me back.

Since you asked and I wasn't sure, I did a little reading and discovered this: http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5498131_happens-epsom-salts-rubbing-alcohol.html. The epsom salts should be baked for 45 minutes at 400°F. Just make sure that the 70% ISO only contains water.