[Mellowyellow25]

Santa did not bring me a rosin press this year, so I decided to make my own. Since I already owned a Harbor Freight 12 ton bottle jack for my truck, no sense buying another one just for this. So, I designed my press so I can easily remove the jack and put it back in the truck after a pressing session.



All the parts were sourced at my local hardware store for about $35, except the aluminum stock. This, I already had from another project, but cheap to buy at any of the online metal suppliers for around $25. I used three 8" sections of 3" wide, 3/16" thick channel.



The threaded rod is 5/8" course thread cut 15" to accommodate my jack height but still allow for adjustment, later on. The four springs are necessary to retract the piston when you release the pressure. Otherwise, it will just sit there cooking your bud.



I scrounged the heating plates from a hair straighter I bought from Goodwill for $3. They are 2 x 2.25 inches. Each is epoxied to a 3/16" thick piece of phenolic to isolate them from the aluminum press plates. This way their energy is mainly confined to a small area and not working to heat up the whole press.



I use a digital cooking thermometer to measure the temperature and regulate that manually using a variac (variable AC transformer).



The consensus seems to be you press at under 200 degrees. For now I have it set up for around 180 degrees F. I can get them up to 225 to 235 with the current plates, if need be. The process starts by pressing the plates together and letting them heat up for a good 10 to 15 minutes. Then, I crack them apart and push in the thermometer to check the temperature.

So, the proof is in the pudding, as they say. Today, I harvested a fresh AK-47 after twelve weeks. I plan to try pressing some of this in about five days, or so. I will also compare the results with some AK-47 that has been curing since October.

I'm curious to see the difference between pressing recently dried to pressing cured flower.

Will post those results in a bit.

[Mikell]

Ah that's pretty bitchin'.

Particularly the label maker work.

[Ringodoggie]

Very nicely done. Ditto on the label. LOL

My guess is the epoxy will break. I couldn't get anything to stick and not break on any of my early prototypes. Ended up going with mechanical fasteners.

[Mellowyellow25]

Originally Posted by Ringodoggie

...My guess is the epoxy will break. I couldn't get anything to stick and not break on any of my early prototypes. Ended up going with mechanical fasteners.

Thanks.

Packaging says this marine epoxy is good for up to 300 degrees F. I'm at around 200. I let it set up under pressure for 48 hours. Will see. Room to tap and bolt them on if need be.

[Ringodoggie]

It wasn't the heat, in my case. It was the pressure. It always broke/cracked.

It also happened on the first few presses so you'll know in a hurry. LOL Hopefully, it will hold up.

I actually use springs to hold mine together, now. A little odd but it works great.

Let us know how it works out. Sure looks like you did a nice job.

[Mellowyellow25]

I needed to add "outriggers" to my press to keep it from falling forward when the pumping got up to the higher pressure.

[Mellowyellow25]

Switched from using the bleached white parchment paper to the natural unbleached version. Apparently, the chemical dioxin is use in the bleaching process and can leach into what you are heating.



This paper is a bit thinner than the white Reynolds I had but it is slicker.

[Mellowyellow25]

Did quite a bit of pressing yesterday using my small supply of AK-47 that has been curing for about 2.5 months.

I started out with four grams of flower.



My process is to take a bud and hand press it first using a block of wood. That gets me a puck about the size of a nickel.



Then, wrap this in a piece of parchment paper and insert it into my press. I have the heat up to around 200 degrees F this time. I pump until I hear a hissing sound as the oil is squeezed out, then I give it one more pump. The hissing grows louder. As soon as it stops hissing I release the pressure and remove the paper. All this happens in less than 30 seconds.

Here is my first press.



I then fold the flattened puck in half twice and put this into a new piece of paper. Into the press and repeat the process listening for the hissing.

My second pressing.



I also gave it a third try, folding the pancake twice. The results are a bit darker, but still usable.

[Mellowyellow25]

So, after I pressed the four grams I weighed the collected material while still on the tool. Then, I removed the material and weighed again with the tool clean.



My scale will not show less than a gram. I probably ended up with something a bit less than one full gram of material on my first try. Conservatively, I'd say maybe 20% return from the four grams I started with. Not too shabby.



My goal next is to come up with a way to make this candy like material into something I can use in my medical vape pen.

Will report back.

[Ringodoggie]

Not bad for your first run.

If you want to dilute it and use it in an e-cig type device, there are products and methods for that. I use Vapeur Extract. There are others.

Or, if you're going to smoke it as is, you'll need a nail or wax/oil type vape.

You might also want to try pressing it with a coffee filter. A lot of people are doing that to get a super clean result. I seem to loose more in the filter than it's worth.

Personally, I use almost all my rosin in edibles so I don't have a problem with a little contaminates in it. I see some of the pepole pressing beautiful clear/amber rosin. Just beautiful.

Again, nice job.