I am going to bed now, super stoned, i will have a few pics for you tomorrow bro. Nite Nite!
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It should be I washed it before starting knowing that anything sticking to it would end up in my dab.
So, do I freeze it to harden it? This is the very first time I’ve ever had enough to harvest. I have no previous experience to draw from.
Hi @ReikoX. You mean, aside from working as a auto mechanic for 5 years out of fresh out of high school and as toolmaker for 34 years, and a high performance engine builder for a couple of years in between machine shops? Not very… 
I’ve been looking at the jaw blank only sets at Amazon and buying the rods and PID temperature controllers as well. It is the most likely route I’ll end up taking. There is much money to be saved. I just wish I still was working, I’d have made my own plates. They are the most expensive part. No longer having a machine shop to use in my off hours sure limits all the ideas I’ve come up with.
It is a very nice little press. I was amazed by the quality of construction for such a low price. I thought you were using a vise. Did you up grade?
I was thinking about adapting the jaws you used for your vise to the press, but without being able to machine a boss under the heater ceramic hair straightener plates for support without endangering the the electrics on it, I think it would crack, possibly powder under 12,000 lbs of pressure. I feel I’d like something more robust.
In the end, I’ll probably just go with the blanks, etc. I’ll see if ebay has any better pricing on the stuff. It’s better to not buy all my cannabis related needs from Amazon. Gotta make Jeffery Beauregard Session’s investigators work for their money. 
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I don’t think it would be necessary. It should start to harden like a wax after 24 hours, I would try to get a small amount stuck to a tool and keep dabbing at it. See if you can get it to stick to the tool.
99%
PS, any leaks that happen to land on the hot plates will eventually dissolve into thin air, right?
Good morning @99PerCent
I hadn’t gotten your response by the time I went to bed, so I put it in my growroom frig overnight. It chipped off in large pieces with only a tiny amount still stuck to the tool I used.
I sense by your responses that you are curious as to why I used the rod I did for removing the dab from the paper. I watched quite a few videos on YouTube. Only one of those folks mentioned how to remove it from paper and he said he preferred to use a tool that had a ball end. He said it made it easier to remove from the paper, so I found a rod with a ball end, washed it and used it. Do you have a favorite tool to use?
Lol. Probably not. Alcohol removes it nicely though. A little waste but just about everything generates some waste. I am very happy with my first harvest of dab.
Since I was using block heated by hand and they cooled as I worked, The blocks were barely warm to the touch for my 3rd press and I got almost nothing, even thought the squished buds was sticky as hell. I would say that if you can get dab without heat, you probably need more than 20 tons, since I’ve seen Rosin presses that large and they were still using heat. Good to know. I hadn’t seen anyone here talk of pressing without heat, so I had pretty much figured out before that heat was absolutely necessary.
So you no longer use the vise?
Can you post some pics of your jaws and controller? Are you still using the heat plates from a hair straightener for your heat source? I can’t tell from the picture. I’ve always very good at copying a design from photo as long as I take measurements of my stuff and make it to fit. But then again, I am no longer in a machine shop 5.5 days per week, so it is tougher now.
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I am in search of good dental tools with tiny points that can still gather good size clumps.
Maybe you are thinking of my @roux vice press.
Here is the thread where you can see it built.
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lol @ReikoX I thought I was just really stoned, I didn’t understand what was going on…I’m smoking another 
Yes @99PerCent got my back, he is quicker with the mouse and keyboard. ^^^^
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And any time you need it brother…
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@Roux, I’m so sorry. I was thinking you were the one that made the vice press. I guess the names starting with “R” and having black and white avatars confused me.
EDIT: Damn, I did it again! this reply should have gone to @ReikoX. Sorry man, I gotta stop smoking so much!
Your’s is a nice setup. You said you made your own plate set, would you mind posting some pics of it? Did you buy industrial heaters or find a less expensive option?
@99PerCent, thanks man! I probably would have continued to be confused over that if you hadn’t straightened my out. We could really use a emoji that points a gun to its head for these “Oh, duh!” moments
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I built mine using this tutorial here, except I used 2.5"x2.5" plates and a 6-ton press.
http://www.highsimple.com/diy-rosin-heat-press/
I did post a picture of the HMK press (not mine) which was the 600-lb quick clamp with a straightener.
Lol You guys should start up a rosin press thread, but definitely addresses getting the first precursor towards making e juice.
I use alcohol extraction for my shatter/oil but I’ve been eyeing up distillate hardware pretty seriously as of late, will probably start purchasing stuff in the next week or so for a budget diy build and for low to medium volumes, already been distilling alcohol for a decade so why not this only difference is higher boiling points coupled to vacuum to reduce those temperature.
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So you will keep using alcohol for extraction, or will you switch to butane?
I have a buddy with a butane extraction unit which he has gotten pretty good with. He purges under vacuum for a week to get rid of the butane that isn’t recaptured in the process.
Penny Wise
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Keep with the alcohol, as i’ll be specing in some larger flasks and different condensers most likely so i will also be recovering that as well. Butane unless running a closed loop system which is very pricey in itself seems so wasteful to me, especially from the amount of waste that is generated.
But my goal isn’t to get pure clarity stuff, but more reasonable clarity with terps from the plant mixed back in.
Just like High Proof alcohol vs a flavored spirit like rum or whiskey in the distillation world.
Or at least that’s my plan. I’m not looking for complete isolation.
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Be sure and post up what you manage. Not sure if you shouldn’t post on the Distillation thread too.
99
i definitely will once things are setup, even if its just the alcohol recovery.
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With one of these systems, can you make juice that is as clean as Everclear?
@Mr.Sparkle, did you check out the video I posted on Feb 11? This woman is using CO2 and Everclear to separate the thc from the plant. She chills the Everclear with the dry ice before she starts. She explains that the solvent will work as long as it doesn’t freeze and that washing the weed in the Everclear below freezing will prevent water solubles from having any influence in your final product.
She is using fresh plants in the video. It looks like she throws everything but the sticks into the subzero brew. You can hear the buds crack as she uses 2 wood spoons to break them up. She says she has been told by the person that showed her this trick that it works well with cured weed too but, “There is such a demand for this medicine that I don’t have the time to wait for it to dry”.
It takes only hours to do the job, and you need to stop before the dry ice is gone to avoid the water solubles being a problem.
After watching that video, I bought a still from eBay. I found one warehoused in the U.S. for $138.00 (“buy it now” price) including shipping. It is supposed to be here Thursday. I got 1.75 liters of Everclear as well. And, I am saving the bottom 65% of my last two harvest plants, should be about 2 ozs (I am leaving it on the plant until then). When the still gets here, I’m going to give it a shot.
Just food for thought…
@ReikoX, I visited that site. I’m making a shopping list. Thanks again bro. Oh yeah, once again I mixed up your and @Roux. I tagged him instead of you in my apology. (Man, I really need that “gun to its own head” emoji). I fixed it, but now I am doubly sorry. Should be more even, because when YOU told me the vice was his, I didn’t even notice. I thought yuou were referencing one of you links. I gotta start getting more sleep, since I am unlikely to smoke less any time soon. 
@99PerCent, I bought this set of wax carvers from Amazon.com for around $8.25 and free shipping. You might find something useful in the set. This is the name to search on:
SE DD312 12-Piece Stainless Steel Wax Carvers Set
Here are some photos. There is a bit of everything among the 24 ends.
Tools I got, experience takes a little longer.
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No haven’t taken a look at that video yet, but I already use a quick wash cold alcohol method “qwet”. It’s not as cold as using dry ice, but you can get pretty good extract.
@99PerCent well everclear is just alcohol, but my still for alcohol can produce 95.6% all day so long as I have wash to run and am running a taller packed column, but I’m looking at a small glass setup to run under vacuum for distillate
https://420evaluationsonline.com/health-and-news/thc-distillate-everything-you-need-to-know
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I am a big fan of making kief using dry ice and the water solubles thing makes sense, so I will be giving it a try. I’ve thought about using alcohol to get hash oil for some time, but was nervous, no scared, of doing it. Playing with alcohol and heat seemed to me to not be worth the risk. I saw a different video on YouTube where a guy was using the alcohol and heat method. He was using a hot plate with a builtin magnetic stirrer and a still. I put them on my shopping list. After seeing the woman using dry ice and alcohol and a still, I decided not to wait any longer and found a good deal on ebay for one. I also picked up Everclear on my weekly shopping trip.
Since I have 0 (zero) experience at this, I’ll be looking up posts for help. I’ll be sure to look for yours.
Salutations brother.
Did you see this on Amazon?
Search on SnobClamp 2" x 3" rosin plate set for DeWalt Clamp
They don’t come with the clamp, but they have pics of it assembled onto one:
I saw how to make one on YouTube and some enterprising individual has realized there are many people that are either too lazy or not capable of making one for themselves.
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