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how to get buds ready for dry sift?

T

tropicannayeah

Sam has already posted several times saying he wants to produce a machine to automate the process, this is why he won't let others know how to turn rough farmer's dry sift into 99.9% pure resin heads, but he said that so far he was not successful in producing this machine and that it was not really a priority for him at the moment. Bubbleman, yourself it seems and others know this method, so if and when they compost Sam, the "secret" method won't be worm food too.


EsterEssence said:
You have to ask Sam, I was asked not to talk about it.
Click to expand...

Fair enough.....I sort of knew that, I was more interested in your reaction at the time all those years ago when you were first shown the method and then asked not to show others. You must of asked why or were told at the time, I bet you weren't told to keep it a secret because Sam wanted to produce automated machine using this technique.....so what was the real reason? Ego or money or was it believed by those in the know that the masses were not ready for such purity? lol
 
EsterEssence

EsterEssence

Well-known member
Veteran
tropicannayeah said:
Sam has already posted several times saying he wants to produce a machine to automate the process, this is why he won't let others know how to turn rough farmer's dry sift into 99.9% pure resin heads, but he said that so far he was not successful in producing this machine and that it was not really a priority for him at the moment. Bubbleman, yourself it seems and others know this method, so if and when they compost Sam, the "secret" method won't be worm food too.




Fair enough.....I sort of knew that, I was more interested in your reaction at the time all those years ago when you were first shown the method and then asked not to show others. You must of asked why or were told at the time, I bet you weren't told to keep it a secret because Sam wanted to produce automated machine using this technique.....so what was the real reason? Ego or money or was it believed by those in the know that the masses were not ready for such purity? lol
Click to expand...

This is a thread about getting buds ready for dry sift, please stay on topic.
 
C

CannaBrix

Member
Dave- I'm not asking for sources on the best dry sift technique as it is a subjective topic. I was asking if anybody has seen any studies on the structure of trichomes and how they should be handled (if cannabis trichomes aren't too unique) This way I could understand better how to handle the material. Although after this discussion, people's first hand experience of working with the material cold coming out better tells me enough.

Like ester said, let's keep it on topic here. :)
 
T

tropicannayeah

Cannabrix...read this thread again, it's all here. Dry your plants undisturbed in a dark, cool, dry, dust free place, after a minimum of several months you can then work the plant material over screens in a low humidity environment as by then the resin heads will be hard enough to sift without smudging, it's that basic.

re : gooey heads......There's been some comments about trichomes and breakage?? Trichomes don't break unless very dry, very cold and are crushed. What happens way more often is they become ruptured when sifted before the trichomes are dry enough.The biggest problem inexperienced sifters run into is trying to dry sift plant material that has trichomes that are not dried out enough and the meshes get clogged with smeared resin and the bits of plant material that sticks to it. Ruptured resin heads will also become smeared all over the plant material too..so don't try and sift plant material unless the resin heads have become dry, desiccated, shrunken and harder.

No. 1 tip .....regardless of the technique, if you aren't using magnification before, during and after sifting to view the sift and the plant material up close then you are not sifting to maximum efficiency, all you are doing is guessing (that's if you haven't worked that same strain before and are an experienced sifter). Magnification will tell you which mesh sizes are best, when the material needs to stopped being sifted or when to continue, how pure your resin is, etc etc.

This is a thread about getting buds ready for dry sift, please stay on topic.


Hear this...I will continue to post the occasional off topic posts, questions and comments along with all my informative/instructive/helpful/on-topic posts, as my mood desires. You on the other hand can choose to read or not read my posts.
 
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EsterEssence

EsterEssence

Well-known member
Veteran
I don't think it has anything to do with how old the resin heads are, my raw material has cured sense sept-oct. It has been my experience that the trichomes break when they are heated or pressed really hard not when they are cold.
Hey trop, do you have any pics of any sift you have made?
It is to bad you have such an attitude.
 
T

tropicannayeah

I don't think it has anything to do with how old the resin heads are, my raw material has cured sense sept-oct. It has been my experience that the trichomes break when they are heated or pressed really hard not when they are cold.

The question was asked about trichome "breakage" when sifting, you are one here talking about trichome breakage and pressing..so who's off-topic now lol....and they don't "break" as such, but can be ruptured, squashed or smeared if too gooey when sifted, Breakage is really the wrong term in this case as it gives the impression of an egg or light bulb breaking, when really it's more like a plastic bag full of cold molasses being pierced or slit open. If you use magnification you will see that "rupture" is a more apt description...and it definitely has to do with how old/dry the trichomes are and that's why about two + months is a good guide or trichome rupturing/smearing may occur and that's why you don't try and tumble your bud or the trim that was harvested two weeks ago, instead you waited two months.

My attitude is fine, but I will call out bs when it arises, I'll also correct any mistakes I notice. I really couldn't give a hoot about any egos that might be bruised when wrong info is corrected.
Most of my posts are directed at those who are keen to learn more about sifting because it's all about the spreading of good information isn't it.

I don't post photos online, never have as I live in a country that has one of the world's most severest penalties for cannabis.
 
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T

tropicannayeah

EsterEssence said:
I was only waiting for it to get COLD. COLD is the key not AGE...
Click to expand...

No, trichome hardness/dryness is crucial for sifting and re-sifting (that's why it's called dry sifting)...I find that the trichomes are still gooey after only two or four weeks after harvest.

Does that mean you would tumble buds two weeks after harvest if it was cold enough for you? I certainly would not, the trichomes would smudge over the mesh and over the plant material.

Cool temps are good for sifting, but trichomes usually require several months after harvest to be ideal for separation. Maybe things dry out really quick where you are, around here bud stays too damp for rolling for several months and even when eventually "dry" it is still very pliable and doesn't snap...so I need two months and a dehumidifier to get material ready for sifting.
 
EsterEssence

EsterEssence

Well-known member
Veteran
I have tumbled in november as long as it is cold enough. The only time it is gooey for me is if it is too warm...
 
elanius

elanius

Well-known member
Veteran
I think we all can agree that Sam Skunkman is the expert in the dry sifting area. He mentioned several times that its best to dry sift when cannabis is cured for 3 - 6 months as the trichomes are separated more easily. The next hint is to use material that is "dry as hell". And thats because again this adds to the effective separation. I can only confirm this, as my experience is the same.
So ofcourse its possible to dry sift after the plant material is dried initially. But to be really effective further "preparation" is needed.
 
EsterEssence

EsterEssence

Well-known member
Veteran
I usually let it cure 3-5 months, and it is dry as hell, cold 30*, as well as low rh, however i have to question that the trichrome gets harder with age...
 
G

genedigger

Member
i would think it would take a few months for it to dry since thc is a lipid and most lipids take awhile to dry.so this ? is prob off topic but i dont know how to start my own thread.i have tons of spent bud from my vaporizer.ive read it still has around half its thc.i have cooked with it and it works great for that but i was wondering if i could put vaped bud in a tumbler to get the leftover thc off?or is this just silly talk.i have so much since i dont smoke and only eat and vape,and i would love to use it for something other than cooking.
 
T

tropicannayeah

genedigger.....you can check out your vaped buds under magnification, if there are intact resin heads, then go for it, but if all you see are melted or no trichomes then it's probably best to stick to cooking with the vaped leftovers (the other alternative is to dissolve the vaped buds in alcohol or some type of petrochemical to extract the THC)
 
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T

tropicannayeah

That really is good. Shows a range of techniques including DSW's - with attribution. If DSW had done something similar, he'd be a hero here.

but does it show Sam's technique?
 
T

tropicannayeah

however i have to question that the trichrome gets harder with age...

I don't have a good quality microscope, only a loupe, but I've seen photos of aged and fresh trichomes and I've worked plant matter over screens as young as a week or two from harvest up to many months old..here's what I noticed...I always get better results from aged material, the meshes don't get clogged with smeared resin and the yield is higher and as the trichomes are less gooey and I can card the resin over finer meshes to purify it.

Fresh trichomes on live plants at harvest go from being full and gooey to being slightly shriveled over, slightly smaller and definitely slightly less gooey after several or more months as the inside of the trichomes gradually lose moisture. You're right that cold temps and low RH are ideal for sifting. I would never try to process plant material less than two months old, but then again, the RH around here rarely gets below 50% and hovers around 70 ~ 90% most of the year, so things dry out really slow.
 
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EsterEssence

EsterEssence

Well-known member
Veteran
tropicannayeah said:
however i have to question that the trichrome gets harder with age...

I don't have a good quality microscope, only a loupe, but I've seen photos of aged and fresh trichomes and I've worked plant matter over screens as young as a week or two from harvest up to many months old..here's what I noticed...I always get better results from aged material, the meshes don't get clogged with smeared resin and the yield is higher and as the trichomes are less gooey and I can card the resin over finer meshes to purify it.

Fresh trichomes on live plants at harvest go from being full and gooey to being slightly shriveled over, slightly smaller and definitely slightly less gooey after several or more months as the inside of the trichomes gradually lose moisture. You're right that cold temps and low RH are ideal for sifting. I would never try to process plant material less than two months old, but then again, the RH around here rarely gets below 50% and hovers around 70 ~ 90% most of the year, so things dry out really slow.
Click to expand...

What temperature are you working at?
 
T

tropicannayeah

I'm strictly small time compared you and most posters here. I've dry sifted for decades, but only with plants I've grown for personal use. I really would enjoy having pounds of plants to sift.

On warm ~ hot days I use an A/C and on cool ~ cold days I use a dehumidifier. I would love to be able to sift in 30 ~40F temps, around here it gets below 60F only for a total of 14 days per year and below 50F for only a couple of days per year....and most of the year it's hot & humid.

anyway, to get back on subject (and I don't know if anyone has mentioned this?) ..when using either a tumbler or flat screens, you will find that the longer the material is worked over the screens, the finer it becomes, so there's no need initially to grind up into tiny pieces. Small chunks of bud and whole bud leaf trim are a good size to start with
 
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EsterEssence

EsterEssence

Well-known member
Veteran
Well with the conditions you are trying to work under, it is challenging at best to get very good results. No wonder your observations on the principals of dry sift greatly differ from mine...
 
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