Psuper
Member
This is a 6 ton hydraulic hash press (AKA a "pollen press").
Commercially available hydraulic hash/pollen presses are usually seen with a hydraulic jack that has a 2-8 ton lift capacity but there are larger ones out there. This one is a "Jack-Patty" pollen press from Neato presses.
Other brand names include the APE press, Jack-Puck press, Pollinator Co., and Dampkring.
Both large hydraulic and smaller hand-held presses are made from either aluminium or steel. This one is aluminium and won't rust.
The hash sits on the piston inside of the containment ring and is compressed by being forced up against the pressing plate by the jack.
Above pic shows the top of the unit disassembled; easy to take apart.
A 6 ton jack provides enough force not only to press hash, but also to make canna-buttons which are "buttons" made of ground-up bud mixed with hash or hash-oil (heard of these from Gray Wolf and a few other folks here) haven't had a chance to personally try making any of these yet though; both without the need for adding heat.
If you're looking to purchase a hydraulic press go with a 6 ton size, the only reason to go larger is if you're pressing huge bricks instead of big cookies!
This pic shows the Jack-Patty "piston" in comparison to a regulation hockey puck as well as a smaller 1 5/8" piston from a different, smaller hand-held hash press.
Since there are only a handful of companies offering them, large hash presses fall into a very narrow price range when compared against eachother. This model, with a $399.00 price tag, is cheaper than other brands with similar sizes.
This size mould is larger than I personally need but a small co-operative of local med. growers will be utilizing this soon.
Besides costing a little less than other presses, this guy also has one great feature that I really liked and that other presses didn't have:
After you are finished pressing you replace the pressing plate with the above extraction plate ("removal jig") that holds the containment ring in place whilst you push the pressed cookie out of the top.
Some companies sell "foils" that keep your hash from sticking to a pressig plate; these guys simply recommend to use aluminium foil you have at home instead of paying for a pack of foils. Another option is a piece of cellophane-- one free/cheap source for which is the bags you stick bouqets of flowers in, though "food-grade" cellophane is also easily found.