Why larger screen sizes with dry ice hash?
- Thread starter tiffa
- Start date
9
99%
A vast majority of trichomes on mature plants range from 25 ~ 120 micron in diameter. I find with the plants I grow that the trichomes with the best high are often found in the 70 ~100 micron range.
I would suggest sifting with the 160 micron mesh for the initial sifting which will allow most of the resin heads to pass through the screen then I would re-sift the fall through again through the same mesh again, stopping when a majority of the sift has re-passed through the mesh, The stuff remaining on top of the 160 screen will be mostly contaminant.
Then I'd suggest using a 120 ~ 125 micron mesh to re-sift what passed through the 160 micron screen, processing a small amount at the time, don't overload the screen so you can allow the resin to pass through efficiently. Monitor your progress with a magnifier.
Regarding dry ice, I've sifted with it a few times, but being so cold the plant material will freeze quickly and be crumbled into powder (contaminant) very easily. Maybe try to work out a way so the dry ice freezes the plant material without actually contacting the material because agitating rocks of dry ice with plant material causes huge amounts of broken up plant material to pass through the screens and mix in with your resin, which is something you need to avoid as it's a lot easier to not allow the contaminant to pass through the meshes than rather to try and remove it later with most dry sifting techniques.So maybe do the initial dry sifting without dry ice then for a second run, use dry sift and tell us how it went.
happy sifting!
I would suggest sifting with the 160 micron mesh for the initial sifting which will allow most of the resin heads to pass through the screen then I would re-sift the fall through again through the same mesh again, stopping when a majority of the sift has re-passed through the mesh, The stuff remaining on top of the 160 screen will be mostly contaminant.
Then I'd suggest using a 120 ~ 125 micron mesh to re-sift what passed through the 160 micron screen, processing a small amount at the time, don't overload the screen so you can allow the resin to pass through efficiently. Monitor your progress with a magnifier.
Regarding dry ice, I've sifted with it a few times, but being so cold the plant material will freeze quickly and be crumbled into powder (contaminant) very easily. Maybe try to work out a way so the dry ice freezes the plant material without actually contacting the material because agitating rocks of dry ice with plant material causes huge amounts of broken up plant material to pass through the screens and mix in with your resin, which is something you need to avoid as it's a lot easier to not allow the contaminant to pass through the meshes than rather to try and remove it later with most dry sifting techniques.So maybe do the initial dry sifting without dry ice then for a second run, use dry sift and tell us how it went.
happy sifting!
PDX Dopesmoker
Active member
Has anyone ever looked into the effect of cryogenic contraction on the mesh and how it affects the effective screen size when using dry ice? Is a steel mesh that measures 150 microns at room temp the same size at -40º?
9
99%
The damp dry ice derived sift can be pressed into rosin, processed with ice water or dissolved in alcohol or petrochemicals etc .....or maybe try carding up the kif when it is dry, not damp?
The clumping is caused by condensation...maybe try sifting in a very dry environment? maybe use dry ice to freeze the material but not contact it by putting the dry ice on a flat screen on top of a screen that contains the plant material? Maybe try dry sifting with dry ice but don't scrape up the sift until it is powder dry so it doesn't clump but the room would need to be low humidity so use a dehumidifier &/or an A/C...anyone got a suggestion?.
Or maybe don't use dry ice at all? I tried it a few times and never went back to it.You can freeze the plant material and sift in a dry room and get the same results as dry ice (which will be most of the resin heads but also with more contaminant than other methods...but as the frozen plant material will thaw almost immediately when taken out of the freezer, you have to sift aggressively for only 10 or 20 seconds before the material becomes too damp to process...a walk in freezer would work well, though I've never tried that) ...
I use an A/C in Summer and a dehumidifier in Winter with aged, dry plant material and use 2, 3 or 4 meshes I usually focus on removing almost all the resin heads on the material while trying to allow the minimum amount of contaminant in and then removing as much of the contaminant as possible later. Sometimes I aim for absolute purity, but usually only when I have lots of material to sift and that doesn't happen often enough.
One of the guys on Hash Church freezes plant material with nitrogen, pulverizes it and uses a process to produce pure resin heads...but like Skunkman Sam's 99% sifting technique, it's a secret. ...but one technique that produces very pure dry sifted resin and isn't a secret is the "static card method" (please remind me who shared this method for all to benefit from) scraping of a card or book wrapped in parchment paper over a mesh screen to collect the resin heads...this method is used to clean up contaminated sift.
I don't really mind that some one has a secret, that's their prerogative. What I don't like is hearing just about every time some one mentions pure dry sifted resin, the holders of the secret method post "I can produce 99% ...oh, but it's a secret" ......if it's a secret, then shut up about it or you run the risk of being regarded as a dick, if you want to profit from it, do so, if you want to share it, then share it, if not then please stop with talking about (and of course the holders of the secret method would never refer to it as a boast).
A simple easy way to get excellent quality dry sift is to very, very gently sift small amounts of the dry material at a time for a short duration and then re-sift this kif over finer meshes...a very cold, dry room works best. The remaining plant material can be sifted to attain a lower grade hash, run through Bubblebags, used for cooking, extracted with liquid chemicals, dry ice sifted etc.
Another method to produce pure resin heads was posted here by DSW a few years ago is the two screen method that relies on a specific series of steps, all of which require no bumping of the screens or the table and very dry trim.
Happy Sifting!
The clumping is caused by condensation...maybe try sifting in a very dry environment? maybe use dry ice to freeze the material but not contact it by putting the dry ice on a flat screen on top of a screen that contains the plant material? Maybe try dry sifting with dry ice but don't scrape up the sift until it is powder dry so it doesn't clump but the room would need to be low humidity so use a dehumidifier &/or an A/C...anyone got a suggestion?.
Or maybe don't use dry ice at all? I tried it a few times and never went back to it.You can freeze the plant material and sift in a dry room and get the same results as dry ice (which will be most of the resin heads but also with more contaminant than other methods...but as the frozen plant material will thaw almost immediately when taken out of the freezer, you have to sift aggressively for only 10 or 20 seconds before the material becomes too damp to process...a walk in freezer would work well, though I've never tried that) ...
I use an A/C in Summer and a dehumidifier in Winter with aged, dry plant material and use 2, 3 or 4 meshes I usually focus on removing almost all the resin heads on the material while trying to allow the minimum amount of contaminant in and then removing as much of the contaminant as possible later. Sometimes I aim for absolute purity, but usually only when I have lots of material to sift and that doesn't happen often enough.
One of the guys on Hash Church freezes plant material with nitrogen, pulverizes it and uses a process to produce pure resin heads...but like Skunkman Sam's 99% sifting technique, it's a secret. ...but one technique that produces very pure dry sifted resin and isn't a secret is the "static card method" (please remind me who shared this method for all to benefit from) scraping of a card or book wrapped in parchment paper over a mesh screen to collect the resin heads...this method is used to clean up contaminated sift.
I don't really mind that some one has a secret, that's their prerogative. What I don't like is hearing just about every time some one mentions pure dry sifted resin, the holders of the secret method post "I can produce 99% ...oh, but it's a secret" ......if it's a secret, then shut up about it or you run the risk of being regarded as a dick, if you want to profit from it, do so, if you want to share it, then share it, if not then please stop with talking about (and of course the holders of the secret method would never refer to it as a boast).
A simple easy way to get excellent quality dry sift is to very, very gently sift small amounts of the dry material at a time for a short duration and then re-sift this kif over finer meshes...a very cold, dry room works best. The remaining plant material can be sifted to attain a lower grade hash, run through Bubblebags, used for cooking, extracted with liquid chemicals, dry ice sifted etc.
Another method to produce pure resin heads was posted here by DSW a few years ago is the two screen method that relies on a specific series of steps, all of which require no bumping of the screens or the table and very dry trim.
Happy Sifting!
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PDX Dopesmoker
Active member
I've managed to unclump clumpy kif that got stuck together with condensation by letting it air dry some and then putting it in mason jar in the freezer overnight followed by shaking the shit out of it. When you remove the kif jar from the freezer let it warm up a couple hours before opening it so you don't get any new condensation.
Avoiding condensation to begin with, if you can, sounds like a better way. Maybe the hash church guy is using his cold nitrogen gas for sifting atmosphere?
Avoiding condensation to begin with, if you can, sounds like a better way. Maybe the hash church guy is using his cold nitrogen gas for sifting atmosphere?
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9
99%
Maybe the hash church guy is using his cold nitrogen gas for sifting atmosphere?
He said that the plant material was put in a container, the nitrogen was added and they used a baseball bat or something similar to quicckly smash up and pulverize the plant material...and then the resin and contaminant was separated using a secret method...actually, this guy, "Indra" on Hash Church (who has a patent for the BHO method.) was going to tell everyone about his 99% dry sift method, but that never happened, not sure what happened there?
He said that the plant material was put in a container, the nitrogen was added and they used a baseball bat or something similar to quicckly smash up and pulverize the plant material...and then the resin and contaminant was separated using a secret method...actually, this guy, "Indra" on Hash Church (who has a patent for the BHO method.) was going to tell everyone about his 99% dry sift method, but that never happened, not sure what happened there?
GlandualFever
Active member
As 99% stated, its best not to extract with dry ice in contact with the material, as its weight pulps the material and contaminants enter the sift.
However, I've used dry ice for years and think my way is probably the best as it removes the ice from the sifting process:
Simply find the largest surface area tray you can, place a layer of dry ice, and spread your trim thinly on top of it, allow it to freeze so that when handled a slight pressure would crumble it.
Once the material has cooled to your liking, either fill the bag with just the trim, or if u like add some of the dry ice "dust" that you usually get a bit of when ordering dry ice pellets. I personally use a tumbler as I prefer the sealed environment. Used bubblebags once with ice, but the clean up afterwards was a joke. Had pollen on everything in the kitchen.
i have tumbled freshly trimmed material with dry ice also. I like the putty consistency you get with fresh frozen. But id say pressing the final product is essential as there will be lots of condensation/moisture inside. Whatever you do, you have to either cure the sift before pressing, or bake.
btw, I use 160u and 135u.
However, I've used dry ice for years and think my way is probably the best as it removes the ice from the sifting process:
Simply find the largest surface area tray you can, place a layer of dry ice, and spread your trim thinly on top of it, allow it to freeze so that when handled a slight pressure would crumble it.
Once the material has cooled to your liking, either fill the bag with just the trim, or if u like add some of the dry ice "dust" that you usually get a bit of when ordering dry ice pellets. I personally use a tumbler as I prefer the sealed environment. Used bubblebags once with ice, but the clean up afterwards was a joke. Had pollen on everything in the kitchen.
i have tumbled freshly trimmed material with dry ice also. I like the putty consistency you get with fresh frozen. But id say pressing the final product is essential as there will be lots of condensation/moisture inside. Whatever you do, you have to either cure the sift before pressing, or bake.
btw, I use 160u and 135u.
