Thundercat's Groooooooow

SOMEBEECH

Well-Known Member
You RT,Just too damn hot,I will put in my thread tho.Got all the stuff i need in the shop.
Come holla sometimes in my sig link.Some good laughs.
Beech
 

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
SOrry Beech that one doesn't ring a bell.


Building a post...................



***Allow me to Preface my next post. I in no way am taking credit or claiming to be the best at this whole oil making thing. I'm hoping only to share what I'e learned over the last year, that I feel has lead me to some nice extracts on my nail!
 

jigfresh

Well-Known Member
You didn't know roseman? He was a trip. I agreed with him on most stuff, but damn if he wasn't hard headed. lol... I miss all our old friends. At least there are still some good ones kicking around.
 

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
OK guys I've been making some oil for just under a year now, and feel like I've learned alot and want to share! With that I bring you.......................................
First off some tunes for the process
[video=youtube;MfVDicnvnFc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=MfVDicnvnFc[/video]

and now an RIU exclusive presentation.......


^this is the oil I make in the tutorial, Cindy99 bud sap!

Step 1. Gather Supplies. In my case I use mason jars for my material. I have both metal and paper coffee filters. I have been using a clothe bag I got from target in the canning section as sort of a catch bag for all heavy material, it was called a "jam straining bag". I've got my frozen 91% or better alcohol, and some collection containers for it. Pretty much everything has been in the freezer for atleast 24 hrs other then the bag and paper filters. From what I've found doing the inital extraction with everything cold seems to help keep the end product cleaner and smoother.


Step 2. The wash. With this run I was using Cindy 99 buds which had been dried and have been curing for a couple weeks. I used 10 grams of the fluffier buds off the bottoms. I chopped this bud gently to a texture a little larger then what I would roll into a blunt, so that the alcohol would have good access to the bud structure. The bud was frozen for about 24 hours before the wash. I added alcohol till it covered the bud, then a splash more. Once the alcohol is in I start counting, and I don't leave the alcohol on the bud more then about 30 seconds.


During that 30 second wash I will GENTLY, oscillate the jar, or tip it 90 degrees to the side and back up. I don't actually shake the jar on the first wash. In the picture I was swirling the solution. You should be able to see the level of the alcohol, as well as the coldness of the jar.


Once I get to the 25 second mark counting, I open her up, and dump the contents into the strainer bag over the top of the metal filter which is sitting in my collection container.


I allow the heaviest of the liquid to drain through, and then twist the bag up and squeeze the rest out.( note we are still under 1 minute from when we started) This is one reason I like this bag is it makes it real easy to handle the trim, and transfer it in and out of the jars.


Now the trim goes back into the jar, and the solution we just washed goes into the freezer with the lid on for a minute while I do the second washs.


I repeat "THE WASH" process once more for trim, but on this bud I did 3 total rinses.


now after a bowl, or a dab or two while the solution chills for an hour or so in the feezer.

Step 3. Filtering.This seems to be one of the most important parts of the oil making process. If you don't get out any impurities you won't get a nice clean/smooth oil. I've recently been told about a micron syringe filter( thanks qwizo) and would like to get one as I feel filtration is the next place for me to improve my system. Anyway, currently I'm using multiple coffee filters to filter my extractions. I place 3 filters into my metal filter to hold them and let it drain through into the another collection container.


I allow this to drain in the freezer for as long as it takes.....usually about a half hour. Here you can see my freezer, the square plastic containers are each different washes at various stages during the last few days. The iso bottle that looks green is also a wash I'm working on. Its actually 2 b grade washes I just poured in there for someplace to store it till I can evap it. Then the quart jar in the middle that is almost empty is my seagrams seven I infused last week.



So now after the first filtration I like to put it back into the freezer for a few hours. Typically I can see some residue collect on the bottom after some time. Then I take it, and do a second filtration. Same deal another 3 filters, same set up.

Oh a note....after the filtration I've been squeezing out the filters into a container of "wash" alcohol. I use it to wash out the dishes after I scrape them, and I squeeze the filters out into it.

Step 4. Evaporation. This is something I've changed how I do in the last few months, and I am loving my new method. In the past I had used heat to assist in the evap process.(mostly to hurry it along) I always ended up with an "oily" extract when I was done. Recently I've began to evap the solution with far less heat (only what the exhaust of a dehumidifier puts out). Now my extracts are turning out as a shatter or a taffy sometimes. Here is the dish after a few hours of evaping.


Step 5. Scraping/processing. I have found that the type of razor blade in the picture seems to work best as they have some flex to them. I have also found I like real pyrex dishes not off brands as they have much smoother bottoms.(something you don't notice until your scraping oil off it :) ) I kinda forgot to get a pic of the whole dish but here is a small bit as I was scraping it.


After I scrape the whole dish onto a piece of parchment paper(my new best friend), I fold the parchment into a packet with the oil in the middle.


At this point I mush it with my fingers in the packet, and that little bit of heat helps it form into a nice smooth mass. At this point I usually spread it out a bit and take a nice picture for you, like this again.


Then I fold it a few times into a little thicker piece and weigh it. Which I'm very pleased to say turned out well from my bud run.

The Wrap Up. I used 10 grams of bud, and I was able to get 1g(minus a dab) off just the first wash. I have about twice the amount of solution evaping from the second/third wash so I'm eager to see how that turns out. Either way I got my 10% plus, and some very delicious golden oil so I'm very pleased.

That being said, the flavor is my favorite part so far. It tastes exactly like the Cindy it came from but intensified. I can't imagine Kite Highs giant Cindy oil run he did that had to be amazing! Its very sweet, some fruitiness, a little citrus, and the distinct Cindy flavor I have a hard time describing. All in all I'm very happy.

So guys I hope this brings some light to how I've been doing things. Maybe it will help someone, maybe you'll have some good ideas or suggestions if you see something I'm doing wrong. Hopefully it will help those of you that havn't had the pleasure of making your own extractions be able to do so, and do it well :). With that I give you a shot of what was on my dabber a few minutes ago :).



Peace, may your dreams be oily.
 

Mad Hamish

Well-Known Member
Whoa, you do your oil oldschool iso-style, haven't seen this in YEARS. Total convert to butane as solvent myself, costs a lot more far as solvent goes but it's ALWAYS super-clean long as you take the time to purge properly but still a lot faster than alcohol extraction. I just find liquid solvents hardly ever leave it perfectly clean I don't dig slow evaps myself because of said residue. If using solvent extractions I prefer a precipitation to an evap, but this I have not found a method for with cannabis oil yet.

With butane as solvent filtration becomes a near non-issue as long as you have the correct screen to do the pull through. Adding a coffee filter to your screen on the pressurised side usually does the job perfectly. MycoMaster has been using a butane method and yielding the most insane shatter from it. Goes hard and flaky like only the most pure product does, every time. Hard opaque amber nugs of crytalline cannabinoid once the ageing process is complete.
 

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
Thanks Chaka, and qwizo.

Well for Hammish and anyone else out there thanks for swinging by the thread. If you use butane more power to ya, however I will not be using any explosive gases to extract my oil. I don't have the luxury or being able to work outdoors, and don't believe in blasting butane in doors. I also don't feel from eveything I've read that you can properly purge butane any faster unless you have a vacuum, and or use heat. I used to get my Iso done in about 3 hours by using heat during my evap....now I get better oil by having a bit of patience. Lastly on the butane topic, other then getting a brighter yellow oil or different color oil I have yet to see the actual benefit to using butane in any way. Yes it pulls less chlorophyl, but it pulls MORE waxes you then have to "winterize" to get out if you want it to be as smooth. I sampled MANY different oils at the Cannabis cup(mostly butane, some CO2, some alcohol, and feel very confident in my work.

All that being said I never intended on this becoming a debate about alcohol extracts vs butane. Theres a ton great ways to grow bud, and I feel its the same for making extracts as well.
 

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
Thanks alot War, I ended up mixing the second and third rinse just to speed things up as I wasn't real worried how they turned out as much as I was the first wash. Anyway I scraped it yesterday morning, and it turned out pretty decent. Its not as golden, but also not brown goo, it just has a bit of a darker hit of greenieness to it but it shatters nice. For B grade I was ok with it cus you can still taste the Cindy flavor strong, its just not as smooth. I got another .6g from the B grade run making my total yield off the 10g of bud 1.6g of oil or a 16% return which I was pretty happy with. With the 1g from the first wash turning out so nice honestly I was thrilled. I let a buddy of mine that is a bit of an oil head try it yesterday and he wouldn't stop raving. He's enjoyed oil from a friend of his in michigan for the last couple years and said this was some of the best he'd ever seen or had which made me very proud. Sadly I couldn't tell him I also grew the dank buds it came from but thats another story.

Today I've got half of my b grade sweet trim wash evaping from the other day. It won't be done till tonight prolly it was a larger wash. I'm also gonna be changing my res again, and finishing the set up on the new res. I went to the grow shop the other day to get a new pump for my main tray so it fills faster, and some nutes. I decided after looking at a bunch of stuff online, and in the store to give the GH maxigrow and bloom granulers a try. I've read lots of great reviews of people that love them. I looked at the nute % on the bags and they seemed pretty decent based on what it seems like my plants use. The granulars were also MUCH cheaper, and better value for quantity then pretty much anything else. I'm also going to be switching to a very low dose of chlorine to steralize my res. I've been reading into it and it seems to be far more common, and effective then I would have ever thought. I switched my clones to straight tap water awhile ago after reading about this, and they seem to root 2-3 days faster then with ph'd bottled spring water. So I'm gonna try it in my main res. I was actually reassured after having read a bunch, when the guy at the grow store said thats what he personally uses and had been for years. I asked about buying a bottle of stuff he had there and he said forget that, just buy some pool shock.(which is what everyone seems to prefer that I've read online also) Sooo I'm gonna try a few new things here, and see how it goes. I have read about using the lucas formula with the granulars, I might do that, or I may try it more by the book to get started we'll see what i decide today :).

I'll catch you guys later
 

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
Good morning!!

Guess its been a couple days. Had to fight a ph issue on the girls the other night. I started using the Maxi bloom at 1 tsp per gallon which as it works out is just about the lucas formula, when mixed up this gave me like 1300 ppm so I was happy. However the Ph dropped way low on me, and so I had to drain half my res and refill with plain water. This brought my ph to where I wanted it, but left my ppm at around 750 rather then my usual 1300-1400. Well everything looked good still yesterday so I'm gonna let it run another day or two atleast and see how they like the lower ppms.

I also put all my seedlings into 6 inch pots and into my veg tray(which still isn't flooding yet I'm still hand watering it). I'm hoping with a little more room to stretch their roots they might be a little happier. I should have said all the seedlings except the autos, they are still in solo cups. The critical cheese auto is really doing nice I think, and is budding up well, the blue cheese has wider node spacing and isn't flowering as much, but also looks nice and healthy. I need to take some pics of them for the solo cup comp.

I scraped my SDG fresh frozen trim oil yesterday. I have no idea what my input weight was, but I got .6g of REALLY yellowy golden oil from the first wash which made me pleased cus I know it wasn't much weight I used. I am about to scrape the second wash in a minute, and start the 3rd evaping for tomorrow morning. I'll see if I can get some pics later.

How was everyone's weekend/vacation? My daughter went to grandmas for 2 days, so it was nice and quiet around here. Me and the wife slept till 1 on accident the first day. We got a bunch of house work done though, and had a decent few days :).
 

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
So me and the wife just dabbed some of this B grade SDG oil. The A grade I thought had a kinda flowery taste( but wasn't the first thing I dabbed that day). I'm gonna have to taste it again cus this B grade clearly has a grape cool aid after taste. The B grade turned out nice and clean, and weighed in at .3 which was half what the A grade was. I've got the C wash evaping now to see what I got there. If the C doesn't have much in it I will go back to skipping it.
 

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
No qwizo I didn't take pics of those washes I just did them the other morning after I trimmed the night before. I will post pics of the 3 final products next to each other though :).
 

SOMEBEECH

Well-Known Member
Something yellow here, I just cant help myself from looking,IM gonna do some..... R try,this harvest.
Some Shoreline.
Beech
 
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