Hash Making

[ED-209]

Now, if you're really lazy (like me) You could make up something a bit more mechanical/'Mcgyver'ish

Ooh I dig this. This reminded me I had a small chinois laying about and just passed all my stuff through it with the back of a spoon. It worked pretty good to pass the stuff through - though the larger clumps were difficult and I think because they still have a little moisture to them. I've separated them and will dry them a bit more. Might just use them for edibles.

As for the main yield, I ended up with a fraction under 31grams of fine dust. This is a very poor yield given the starting quantity of plant material according to this online calculator. However, the starting material was harvested prematurely and probably not my finest growing work (first time with autos). Over all, I'm glad to have gone through the whole process - I think I've got a good idea how to improve things next round.

The real question is wtf am I going to do with it now? I've never used hash. I've got a rosin press I was keen to use but maybe wont bother given it would use all of my material and I don't want to ruin it. I'm digging the little pucks you make @Merl1n. How do you use them after that?



I also have about 500ml of 95+% ethanol I used for cleaning throughout the process. I've used that to collect up a lot of the lost trichomes from the wash bags and such. I also had all the larger fraction hash I didn't include in the finer fraction. That was from the 120 and 160 wash bags. I've added that stuff into the jar of alcohol and will reduce it down to make FECO

 

[ED-209]

Ok, here's a thought... I'm looking at the jar of alcohol with all the dissolved hash in it. It has a nice layer of trichomes forming at the bottom (some still in suspension but will settle out).

What about running this through a buchner funnel vacuum setup. That would allow me to remove all the alcohol, including all the dissolve chlorophyll and other contaminants, wash it with more clean alcohol and then have pure hash like with the water washing method. I guess it would depend on the filter size of the funnel but would think you could find a suitable size.

I've wanted an excuse to buy a setup like that... so maybe now is the time.

 

[Merl1n]

The real question is wtf am I going to do with it now?

You can use the dust as a cone topper ie pack a cone and sprinkle the dust on top. The green in the cone prevents the dust from being sucked thru. As a pressed up block I can chip a piece off, place that in the cone and as a lump, again, it doesn't get sucked thru.

Years ago I bought a few mesh cone pieces that fit inside the cone and these are great for smoking hash. I haven't seen them for sale for years. BUT, plumbing stores have stainless steel gauzes for faucet outlets, they' a flat gauze. I place in on top of the conepiece and press it in to form the cone in the mesh.

I like my joints and I (again) stole the wife's nutmeg grater. I grate a bit up and sprinkle it the length of the joint before rolling it up. 1/2 a joint and I'm humming along, a full joint and my arse is firmly wielded to the lounge

So that's what I do.

This is a very poor yield given the starting quantity of plant material according to this online calculator

I wouldn't be putting any faith in some of these calculators. It can vary heaps depending on the weather, the plant maturity and strain. I grew a strain known as 'Hashplant', thinkin I'd get some ripper hash. It was OK but the yield of crystals wasn't great. I flower mine for longer than most, usually around 12weeks, but at the 12 week mark the crystal formation wasn't great as all of the brown hairs had dropped off. If I'd waited another week or 2 the new hairs would have formed, but time was not on my side and I had no choice but to harvest.

Over all, I'm glad to have gone through the whole process - I think I've got a good idea how to improve things next round.

And that's what this grow game is all about. Improving your processes. I couldn't count all of the little improvements I've made along the way. Each time I'm learning something different, another little tweak.

My incarnations of hash tumblers has been exactly that. A mate gave me one in pieces, asked if I could fix it. Some parts were missing. There was no fabric and the barrel was a front panel and a back panel. It did have the motor and the housing. I sat about fixing it. When it was all working, I made some improvements, then with each new contraption I improved it. I've made 5 differing versions of tumblers, donated a couple to mates. I made that vibrating sieve setup and there was a few versions of that too
Each version has it's pro's and con's, it depends on what I'm processing.

If anybody ever tells you they have it all worked out... ...it's a lie. No 2 grows are ever exactly the same.

 

[ED-209]

Thanks again Merl1n for the advice on usage. If my old man were still alive, I'd be guided by him. I'll have a play with some of what you suggested - will be a bit like old times rolling number with it.

And yeah good points about the online calculator. I didn't think it would be accurate but hopefully give a ball park. I don't think the strains I used were intended for hashing, and yeah they weren't super harvests. But either way it was good to do and love experimenting and trying new things. Always learning

With that, I went ahead and bought some glass to do some separations. I got two buchner funnels, one with a 80-120 mesh and another with a 5-15 mesh. I'll use the first to do the initial clean of larger crap, then wash it through the second to collect. I'll post up picks when it arrives and I give it a crack

 

[Merl1n]

I'll have a play with some of what you suggested - will be a bit like old times rolling number with it.

Again Ed, it's all a case of trial and error, but I'd recommend a slowly, slowly approach.
Smoking hash aint like smoking bud, the stone from hash is more like a body stone than a head stone. You can 'Green out' on hash real easy if you smoke too much of it, then when you awaken it's like you're hungover and still stoned, nasty combination. Green out a couple of times and you'll learn to moderate fairly quickly.

I'd love to hear how your glassware works out. I've made a few differing oils and tinctures. I've still got a jar of OP Rum tincture that must be... 10-15yrs old. The wife, in her frenetic clearing, found it hidden behind some books the other week. I made some oil using hash, but personally, I'd rather the hash . I've got a few differing iso oils I've made and they've all been a case of trial and error.

 

[Dotts]

make Rosin is my suggestion...

might come out on the darker side due to oxidation,

still get ya smashed but...

what rosin press have you got ED?

 

[ED-209]

Alrighty folks an update on my antics. With the previously posted bottle of collected trichomes and alcohol - I ran it through the buchner funnel system and cleaned it up with a couple of washes of fresh alcohol. It came out looking pretty good - only a couple of obvious floating bits of plant material. The rest looked like what you'd find at the bottom of a bubble wash bag.

It doesn't look particularly flash at the moment - it is still saturated with ethanol and stinks like it. I'm thinking the alcohol may have stripped off the terpenes but will be curious if it still contains the punch. I also was able to retrieve the alcohol to use again. Win-win.

I'll let it sit in the freezer overnight - probably wont change much given alcohol doesn't freeze. But will probably offgas some and I'll run it through a sieve to dry properly tomorrow if I can

 

[Dubbski]

Alrighty folks an update on my antics. With the previously posted bottle of collected trichomes and alcohol - I ran it through the buchner funnel system and cleaned it up with a couple of washes of fresh alcohol. It came out looking pretty good - only a couple of obvious floating bits of plant material. The rest looked like what you'd find at the bottom of a bubble wash bag.

It doesn't look particularly flash at the moment - it is still saturated with ethanol and stinks like it. I'm thinking the alcohol may have stripped off the terpenes but will be curious if it still contains the punch. I also was able to retrieve the alcohol to use again. Win-win.

I'll let it sit in the freezer overnight - probably wont change much given alcohol doesn't freeze. But will probably offgas some and I'll run it through a sieve to dry properly tomorrow if I can

View attachment 47009

Please forgive my ignorance...
I've used ethanol for solvent extractions before. From my experience the good stuff is dissolved in the alcohol and what is at the bottom well,
this would go through a filter then be chucked in the bin ,the alcohol would then be stored in the freezer to winter-ise. After a fews days in the freezer it would be filtered again, then evaporated, finishing with a honey like consistency.

How is this hash still solid what am I missing?
Genuinely curious

 

[Harry bootlace]

Please forgive my ignorance...
I've used ethanol for solvent extractions before. From my experience the good stuff is dissolved in the alcohol and what is at the bottom well,
this would go through a filter then be chucked in the bin ,the alcohol would then be stored in the freezer to winter-ise. After a fews days in the freezer it would be filtered again, then evaporated, finishing with a honey like consistency.

How is this hash still solid what am I missing?
Genuinely curious

Yeah. Likewise.

 

[ED-209]

Please forgive my ignorance...
I've used ethanol for solvent extractions before. From my experience the good stuff is dissolved in the alcohol and what is at the bottom well,
this would go through a filter then be chucked in the bin ,the alcohol would then be stored in the freezer to winter-ise. After a fews days in the freezer it would be filtered again, then evaporated, finishing with a honey like consistency.

How is this hash still solid what am I missing?
Genuinely curious

That is what I am a bit confused about myself. I thought the alcohol would dissolve everything but it hasn't. This is why I wanted to separate the two and be able to assess each. I get that there would be larger material as I used mostly the coarse hash fraction and the cleanup from the other parts of the wash. In each case, a distinct layer formed and never dissolved fully.

I'd be curious to evaporate the alcohol and see if it yields anything like you describe - at the moment it just looks like its full of chlorophyll

 

[ED-209]

This is what it looks like under a scope

 

[Dubbski]

This is what it looks like under a scope

View attachment 47039

Cystolith hairs seems to make up the bulk of it.. Nice picture, it's shows a lot zoomed in like that.
Awesome experiment mate!

 

[Harry bootlace]

Dry sifted some trim.
Going to do all the left overs from last years harvest also. Have probably 2 pounds left. Will keep the northern lights though. It’s so good.

 

[Yamumzbum]

Always an inspiration Merl with ya hash making over the years!

Always keen to do a tumbler, but my stoned lazy arse just wants to buy one!

Any recommendations?

Or a simple diy project, been saving my BBQ rotisserie for 5 years now!

Might do half bubble bags, half tumbler....
View attachment 30168

I picked up one of them mini camper washing machines and it's a ripper mate I think it was off eBay for $150 or thereabouts I'm absolutely stoked with it although I'm still refining my process and U got some improvement to make coz in all honesty I can't even tell the difference between hash from 120m bags against the 25m bags lol but that aside I'm always amazed by what I can extract from trimmings n crap left over from a harvy

 

[SAW]

The washing machine is the go. Mine cost <$90, same brand as the “name” machines for 2-3 times the price. Fast and efficient. Our local heavy smoker of hash only, uses a cement mixer to process their trichomes.

 

[Merl1n]

Our local heavy smoker of hash only, uses a cement mixer to process their trichomes.

It's a bit like whiskey. You can get a Johnny Walker Red, from a 40000 gallon stainless steel vat
or
A more refined selection from a small batch still. I'm rather partial to a small batch

 

[Mellow oldfark]

Got this from local tip new in the box about 10 yr ago $20 .well used now.

 

[ED-209]

Cystolith hairs seems to make up the bulk of it.. Nice picture, it's shows a lot zoomed in like that.
Awesome experiment mate!

I missed your reply earlier. Ah interesting, hadn't thought of that. Yeah, they didn't look very trichome like.

I haven't done anything with any of the material since. The solids in the pic I'll bin because once dried it looked rubbish and supports your ID. The liquid fraction must have the dissolved portion, as would make sense. So, I suppose the obvious next step is to evaporate that and see how it thickens. Leave that with me

 

[Mellow oldfark]

Hubble bubble!
View attachment 48164

 

[med180]

Couple of runs through the bags to restock the hash supply.