DIY rosin press

Did a quick search for relavent posts but no joy.. so

I made a rosin press a few years ago and up until now it's done me fine and been as reliable as can be

I have noticed over the years to that 99% of presses custom made and shop bought have the springs that, I think, make the pressing surface consistent right?

Am I missing out by just aligning the plates and squishing with no resistance sort of thing

If you can let me know people

vtr90 said:

Did a quick search for relavent posts but no joy.. so

I made a rosin press a few years ago and up until now it's done me fine and been as reliable as can be

I have noticed over the years to that 99% of presses custom made and shop bought have the springs that, I think, make the pressing surface consistent right?

Am I missing out by just aligning the plates and squishing with no resistance sort of thing

If you can let me know people

Click to expand...

Yes the springs help to apply even balance to the plate when pressure is applied. Nice and level, perfectly parallel to the opposite plate. You'll get a better extraction, but centering the material is also key.

Those springs are not doing crap once the press starts to put force down, the only reason the springs are even there is to open the press once you release it.

Saves me trying to make some cheers for clearing this up for me. Seems the yield problem may just be my method then

What is your yield problem? Flower rosin or bubble rosin?

vtr90 said:

Saves me trying to make some cheers for clearing this up for me. Seems the yield problem may just be my method then

Click to expand...

What size are your plates and how many tonnes is the press? What size bags are you using and are you laying it flat or folding the bottom corners in and pressing it standing straight up? Are you using flower or hash? If flower are you pre pressing pucks?

In reply to both it's made from hash the plates are 5" x 4" and the hash is pre pressed into 4" x 2" for the filter bag (37u, double bagged though, another factor in yield I guess)

The tons a 10 ton press but I've been doing it by psi rather than ton (sonewhere around 1000psi)

I have some pics somewhere from the last press I'll upload em

Cheers for the replies BTW


Tried my hardest to get the hash all the way to the bottom but that seam didn't wanna move


Was disappointed with the return was from lower plant shite though tbf but I expected more from 9g.

Oh, was curious just in case was flower rosin, its all I do. I pressed dry sift a hand ful of times my highest return 37% and best quality ever. I double bag and just pack it tight into corners etc with pushing and pressing into a throw pillow shape. I did 6gs up to 9gs just same way making a 2”x2” pillow.

I never had blow outs I go down slow with pressure. Thing is hash is pretty mysterious I found using machine trimmers stole up to half of the rosin yield in flower rosin. Its not like I could see 100gs of hash all over the trimmer so where did it go?

Anyway Id had random drifts in drysift yield like 15% sometimes 20% but never quite 37% again. I feel like the juicest heads were crushed when manually dry sifting. If you press half and let half sit out in open bag it might yield much less suddenly. Just subject to loss.

My flower rosin is super consistant even with machine trimming which adds a variable but still was about 12% every time. Hand trim and delicate handling I get 20% but I cant say the same for dry sift which makes me wonder how bubble can be. I never done it but looked into it and theres sooo many ways to lose yield Id think.

Whats your percent? Its not looking horrible but I tried pillow tech with flower rosin and while I did a massive pillow its probably why it didnt yield. I wonder if bottle tech and smaller pillows of hash are the way to go.. I certainly wouldnt pollen press drysift maybe you have to with bubble idk.

I see people just doing it like I described though I dont see why not. I really dont want to go down the bubble rabbit hole so its all I know hope that helps. Could just be not the best yielding strain or the bubble drying process or both. The bubble dry process without a freeze dry just sounds like hell.

Edit these findings were all from the same mother plant. Just kept working with it since hash is so unpredictable.

Pics. It happened alright lol.

Thanks for the lengthy reply

Sounds like I was expecting way way too much from dry sift then..

My return on flower from the bottom.of the plant is just under 10%, which will do me considering where it's from, buthe majority of the time I just stick it in the freezer for dry sift rosin, unless I'm running low and need a bit for the night. My return on hash ranges I've had returns over 40% and as low as 15ish (real shit quality hash tho) iirc, again disappointed that it was under the 60% return I'd read about on the net, aswell of reading stories of high 90s for bubble. But like yourself I havnt ever tried bubble hash

I'm gonna give the teabag method (lol) you explained a go next time I press. I think I tried it before and messed it up so didn't try again. Think that's the problem with the prepresssd hash, not tight enough to the seams etc


Looks like I have tried it with bud before but no pics of return so maybe this is the 1 I messed up.

That stuff you've pressed looks bang on, what pressure and heat was it done at?

Belows a pic of one of my presses last august or two ago not really sure how I pulled it off or how much hash was pressed at this one time, but looking back it's probably my best go yet.

I just did I think 175F and 1.2 tons over a 2”x2” bag which is 600psi. For 1 min 30 sec I think. It will yield if its there doesnt take much strategy pressing. So this is dry sift? I especially would do it the way I described which people learned watching kanucks grow on youtube.

Blow outs do happen with dry sift and bubble but for some reason never with me. Flower pucks are a shit show if using 7g bottle tech so I do 5gs per puck, 4 pucks at once. Press is 7”x4” 12 ton dabpress. I do chottle tech as if you are dabs only, the bags end up being rediculously expensive.

Youll notice if you need to turn a pound or two to all flower rosin. I do like 2.5 pounds per 200” sleeve of material for 12$ vs like idk, $200 something like that. Only complaint is it will shed nylon here and there. Or at least this brand, rosineer.

Flower rosin is very easy all I can say is chottle or bottle tech just hand trim and carefully handle the weed up till pressing. I can talk about this all day I was hoping I didnt offer help where it wasnt needed lol Not enough hash threads here.

I get blow outs or flip outs where the chottle bag flips out of position. Weed bits in the rosin but its never been a problem for me. Our senses are different maybe mine rosin if it had seeds or wasnt cured or just the raunchiness it tends to have people dont like it. Its almost as good as live resin if the strain is right.

But yea that last photo looks like a great yield, I had like no yield the first few times till I had home grown to press. Those gaps in bag are real when they say they steal yield, Id hand pack it also just to keep it in good condition. If just touching and tossin can make hash disapear Id treat it the same. Delicately handle all the way to press.

I did that only to try a new puck method, basically the weed pillow was 37gs flower. Basically took the whole platen space. The yield dissapeared infront of me it can get locked into material though they say also from low rh but I havent seen that with flower rosin.

I think Ive seen it before that the dry sift can lose yield sitting around but there was a strain mix difference. I just think so because theres no way it yielded half or less next time due to that but I did leave in bag open overnight. Infact it was two strains, the one I showed earlier but it was mostly this other strain I have.

The first press which was my first decent yield was that other strain, the next had more of the higher yielder shown earlier.. Only to get half or less of yield. Press drysift asap I think something goes on there if you dont.

I'm gonna have to get some new bags before I give this a go. Mine are too narrow and long for bottle tech (2x4 iirc)

I've never had blowouts with hash I don't think, I have pressed it far too hard tho and ended up with



Not sure what happened, any ideas? Think that was at well over 5 ton tho probably around 7 ( back when I was a beginner )

A few pounds? Here in the UK would be lucky to get away with half a lb and not get done for intent to supply shite laws so just a few plants on at a time for medical use. I get pissed off with just them few, can't imagine the stress of growing all that haha

Yea I agree on the bags they can be expensive mine are only off amazon but they have been doing the job, 37u 40 for around £30 (38 USD, wow that exchange rate has definately changed) did notice the ones in your pics look alot better quality but maybe that's just from the flash on the phone?

The dry sift is made from frozen material and then pressed within the next hour, could this be a problem with it being cold still? Never really considered that to be a factor until now.

What I showed was my best run so yes including dry sift being that quality. Just by luck otherwise if you sift too hard it gets plant matter in it. My guess the rosin is passing through it and picking up thinfs youd find in flower rosin so its like a high thc but some raunchyness or weird taste that flower rosin can have.

I actually found that flower rosin if done right really hits home I could dab it full time over live resin or bubble or live bubble rosin. Anything. Ive dabbed legal store stuff everything they had, diamonds, 95% live resin..

Yes flower rosin probably is lower in thc and has imprurities but its good stuff I made myself at home with it. Lol I meant that hypotheticly. My first few presses were learning curves but when I got the hang of it wow almost any flower rosin is just wow. Got to find them though its easy to grow strains with bad rosin or no yield at all.

Anyway yield is something else with dry sift, there has to be hash heavy trichome heads the best of which can be lost. Lost through touching it or smashing it into other plant material. Enough of those heads and youll get yield almost comparable to bubble.

Bubble is something else though, why would I do that to end up with nothing significant. Until I find a strain like the nugsmasher guys that make this look fun and easy. Press it and get 90% return yea right lol. Until then its just sacrifice until you do. While people out there can help you find that theres 100 reasons to be disappointed time comes to press.

I spent thousands till was broke and still paying for my grow and need to use so buying from store would be tough. Then theres the fact I can just grow it and press it and get 20% of stuff that I could forever use and not get sick of. Il just do that.

I did 1.5 pounds 5 clones then again and got 2 pounds and almost again but got mold. Serves me right for not listening to advice lol. Il be lucky if I see a pound harvest again but its looking possible. Over grown indoor plants are risky.

Anyway so yea dry sift yields are all over the place infact the nugsmasher guys say dont press drysift. Notice there are no videos of it. They think its not even worth it lol. Dry sift as I try to be relevant and not ramble, its something else. I personally think bubble would be all over the place too with results.

Sieving?! Whats happening to my precious hash during that?! Then letting it air out for 3 days?! I left how much potential flower rosin just to get that bubble? To me purity isnt everything but it is at the same time compared to smoking weed so its pure as hell enough for me.

I used to want 90% plus thc dabs like diamonds and live resin or regular bho. One day I noticed getting stuck with 60% live resin was actually better. The purer it was the quicker it raised tolerance but the lower thc full spectrum live resin was suddenly better I started to prefer it. Now its almost same thing but flower rosin.

Its ok to have some filler in it like flower rosin. It may even provide better taste as the secondary trichomes that are smaller and harder to extract provide more taste I read.

IME I think the best quality is in the fattest heads ready to rupture and be lost if you let it. Or maybe all of it altogether, it didnt dab the same, the hand trimmed flower rosin actually dabbed like nothing Ive personally made on the press.

Im not as knowledgable as some whove already commented but hell its something Id read back when I was looking up answers. Why do people get 50-60% yield off drysift what am I doing wrong? Well thats my experience.

Was it fresh frozen or just frozen material that was already dry? Id say no thats not it as I freeze my weed each time I pull it out to dry sift and I pressed it asap it was fine.

Now if it was fresh harvest thats still wet and you some how drysifted that, hell thats not even dry sifting anymore is it? Lol I think I misunderstood that but if not Id worry about water content being transfered into the rosin.

Which will crackle and pop when you dab it. Should be a watery mess on the press too.

medidedicated said:

Was it fresh frozen or just frozen material that was already dry? Id say no thats not it as I freeze my weed each time I pull it out to dry sift and I pressed it asap it was fine.

Now if it was fresh harvest thats still wet and you some how drysifted that, hell thats not even dry sifting anymore is it? Lol I think I misunderstood that but if not Id worry about water content being transfered into the rosin.

Which will crackle and pop when you dab it. Should be a watery mess on the press too.

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Noooo I tried that once and like you said, product that cant even be collected. This is dried material that's been frozen.

I just pressed 10g of average hash into 3.7g without using the pre press(one main problem solved perhaps), just packed it into a pillow and double bagged. Pressed at lower temp than I normally would too (80c). Different consistency to what I'm used to. Yet to try but I'll report back

Wow thats like what I got in my best yeild, 37%. Nice job! Id be happy with that. Its hard to think its the prepress but Id consider it like I said earlier for drysift because prepressing is usually bubble folks. Is it from the same pheno?

Different batch of drysift? What was your yield before this? I forgot if you said but it looked pretty good as is, Ive had some awful results with lower quality old kief.

This was hash from my most recent harvest so not old, think I maybe cranked up the pressure too much. Either way it's good smooth stuff just a little hard to collect a dab

I tried the bottleneck method earlier with the smaller bags and got 0.63g (yes the 0.03 is important) from 3.5g of bottom of the ounce sorta stuff. Pressing at 5 ton. The return seems.to be looking alot better, considering my usual return was just over 10%. Definitely thinking about fucking that prepress off n go with this method moving forward

Wish I'd of got pics before collection but was too baked and forgot

vtr90 said:

Did a quick search for relavent posts but no joy.. so

I made a rosin press a few years ago and up until now it's done me fine and been as reliable as can be

I have noticed over the years to that 99% of presses custom made and shop bought have the springs that, I think, make the pressing surface consistent right?

Am I missing out by just aligning the plates and squishing with no resistance sort of thing

If you can let me know people

Click to expand...

Great question! I heard from a friend of mine before that the springs in most presses are designed to help maintain even pressure across the plates, which can improve consistency in your rosin yield.