Yes 25 micron for pressing sift would be best. It would be even better to run the sift through a 25 micron screen so the heads are contained in the pressing screen.
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Found a rotisserie motor on market place brand new, just 10 clicks up to the road 
. Surprising how many people by these things and don’t do anything with them.
Where did you get the mesh from Trev🤔
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I had to buy mine from Amazon, as there were no silk screen supply shops in my area. If there are shops open near you, you’re looking for 110 mesh. The higher number, the smaller the holes, 200 mesh would be too small, 160 mesh would waste some. 110 seems to be the sweet spot.
And yeah, after some research I found out that coffee filters average 20 microns, and not all coffee filters are the same. So that explains why so much got stuck in the filter. I ordered a variety pack of bags, won’t arrive for ~2 weeks so now I get to look at my beautiful rosin press sitting idly for a while. Lame.
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You can press buds without a screen. Just saying… 
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It’ll be a couple of months before I’m back to having enough flower that I feel comfortable pressing it lol
I just called the local grow shop, they are still open and they have bags on hand, going to grab some 37 and 120, that should get me started.
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The 120 micron are only good for flower IMO.
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Hmm, ok so 37 and 75? I read 37 and 75 for hash and sift, but to double bag them with a 120 to prevent blowouts. I’ll see what he has in stock and go from there.
For flower I plan on just DIY’ing up a pre-press mold so the bags probably wont even be necessary.
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You will have to experiment and see what works best for you.
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So this is my take on a DIY caged 3x5 rosin press…
I was hoping to get to the end of this project and be able to say “Ok now you guys go out and build one” but I’m here to tell you to think twice, as it’s a big project that will still cost 2-300 dollars and a lot of time, not to mention tools that the average person doesn’t own or doesnt have access to.
I was lucky that I have a pretty large shop and lots of tools, but doing this without it would definitely be a difficult task.
Just go buy a pre-built setup, you can get decent ones for 4-600 and thank me later.
That being said I’m pretty happy with it. I’ve only pressed a couple of grams of sift so far with it and learned a few things, the big one is to have lots in the bag and instead of spreading it out thin like a stick of gum, fold the bag bag over onto itself to double it’s thickness, and it gives better yields this way. I guess you gotta have something to actually “squish”.
I noticed earlier when I touched the plates I got a mild zap, even though the unit was turned off, that’s a little concerning. Will have to take apart the PID box tomorrow and look over all my wiring there might be a short or something but there shouldn’t be.
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I see ol green bastard looking at me, does he want one??? 
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Was a gift from the legend @McMuffin, been wanting to get it signed as I know Bubs and his family. Got a bunch of stuff signed by the cast and other memorabilia but this poster is probably my favorite just because of how huge and awesome it is!
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So I disassembled the PID box today for the press, all the wiring is correct and no shorts, yet I’m still getting shocked when I touch the plates. I can’t make sense of it. Aggravated.
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I just wanted to say thanks for the build tutorial @TrevorLahey . I also appreciate the sage advice regarding buying one. I’ve been watching this go together and I commend you on your hands on talent. I’ve always said the best do it yourselfers know what not to do themselves.
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The only thing it can be then is the heating elements in the blocks.
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Get out the multi meter and give it a resistance test.
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How is it grounded? Could be a current loop if it’s not properly grounded, I have seen it before.
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Grounds for both leads for each plate are spliced together, then from them a single ground goes out and attaches to the top of the cage.
I get zapped even when touching the metal thermocouple wire coming out of the box before it gets to the plates.
Yeah I plan on going over all the connections with a multimeter tonight.
Just want a few dabs lol
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Problem solved. Wasn’t a problem with my wiring at all, rather a hot ground from the outlet it was plugged into. Plugged it into a properly grounded outlet and good to go.
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Ground problems are hard to troubleshoot. Great job!
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I was gonna say “just stop touching them, problem solved” lol glad you found the hot ground.
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