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how to get buds ready for dry sift?

how much did that go for?im gonna go buy that shit tomorrow.i get a discount at el headshop because i got my card.im stoked!
 

wildgrow

, The Ghost of
Veteran
Cost me $20, free shipping, on Amazon. Gotta look around. Some are selling it for $40! FYI - its a 72 micron screen.

Just don't overfill it if you get one. The returns are diminished if you put much more than 10 grams in - too much material for the trichs to fall through. Also, running the same material through twice will break down pistils and let some through.
 

CannaBrix

Member
Ester-

I have a question about your buckets.

Does the white bucket have another hole on the bottom with the screen stretched around it so you are tumbling the buds in a big 'salt shaker'?
 

EsterEssence

Well-known member
Veteran
The white container inside where the raw material goes is a dog food storage "bucket", it has a 110 silk screen glued with hot glue to all four sides that have been cut out. The rotation makes the raw material fall onto the screens allowing the kief to fall out into the enamel coated drum, no shaking at all
 

CannaBrix

Member
So that barrel is laying sideways.....and is absolutely COVERED in kief...

How do you collect it from the barrel? Lots of scraping?

And then you 'clean' the kief to make the 99.999%?

Also, do you run the raw material through more than once? Or re-use it for a different purpose (edibles, BHO, compost)?
 

EsterEssence

Well-known member
Veteran
The barrel is lying sideways, connected to a subaru water pump with a pulley on the end outside the drum. The motor is around 60 rpm with a larger pulley on the barrel set up so the drum turns at 30-45 rpm, yea kief gets everywhere. The drum is an enamel lined 55 gallon, smooth as smooth can be I just simply brush it onto the magazine. Yes i then use a method i learned over 20 years ago in Amsterdam, to clean the kief and was asked to not talk about it. I run the raw material two tumbles first 3-5 min for the separation and 15-30 min for extraction, depending on the color coming, if it green i shorten the tumble duration. Then it is off to the compost pile...
 

CannaBrix

Member
Very cool stuff ester.

Got another question for the more experienced/knowledgeable:
Is it possible for the resin heads to break? If you overwork the material, do the glands ever break and release their components? If so, how is this avoided?
 

EsterEssence

Well-known member
Veteran
The glands break from heat and pressure. Work with the kief cold. Pressing brakes them that is why it changes color when pressed...
 

CannaBrix

Member
I see, so handling the material like this shouldn't be a big deal in terms of breakage/loss. Thanks for the great information.
 
T

tropicannayeah

- its a 72 micron screen.

I haven't had a look at that particular hand shaker, but it's either a 72 lines per inch mesh that is incorrectly labeled as a 72 micron mesh (I've noticed quite a lot of sifting products that are marketed in the US with incorrect mesh sizing, they usually confuse Micron measurements with US Mesh or lines per inch mesh....or... if it really is a 72 micron mesh, about 200 lines per inch, and it probably isn't, then it would only allow small trichomes and fine contaminant through the mesh and about 80% of the resin and the broken up plant matter would still be on top of the mesh. Most aged/dried mature resin heads or trichomes, range in size from roughly 50 ~ 110 micron in size, so it's best to use a mesh that has openings of 125 micron ~ 160 micron (125 Mesh ~ 100 Mesh or lines per inch),
 
T

tropicannayeah

Is it possible for the resin heads to break? If you overwork the material, do the glands ever break and release their components? If so, how is this avoided?


How to avoid ruptured resin heads? That's easy, don't try to sift plant material with resin that has not dried enough to prevent smearing on the mesh and don't press your resin, keep it in a powder form and sealed glass container. Unpressed resin burns more evenly, is much easier to use and the resin heads are not ruptured...unpressed resin is where it's at as nothing is added, nothing is lost, nothing is rinsed away, nothing is dissolved in chemicals and nothing is broken..it's the pure, natural essence of cannabis. .

The biggest problem with most sifting methods used for maximum yields is when trying to (aggressively) sift plant material that has resin heads that are still too gooey is that the resin heads will easily become ruptured and smear on the mesh which then in turn makes contaminant stick to it eventually partially blocking the mesh. Note that the plant matter will dry out way before the resin heads are dry enough for sifting, this is why commercial producers always wait several months before processing the plants in hashish this way maximum yields are attained (the starting material is stripped if resin heads) and the rough sift can be re-sifted to remove the contaminant over finer meshes as it is harder and less gooey.
 
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T

tropicannayeah

I can only talk about making the kief, I don't do the extraction, and Sam won't let me tell how to do the separation.

What's the reason why this technique has to be a secret?
 

Dave Coulier

Active member
Veteran
A ways back when I was first acquainting myself with growing and harvesting, I left a plant in the tent drying too long. By the time I had gone to pull it out, I could already tell the buds were too dry, and I had messed up. So I reached in to pull it out to trim, and as soon as I touched it, resin glands cascaded from her all over the bottom of the tent. No green matter whatsoever. Just a beautiful amber-white color coating the bottom of the tent.

This would have been ok with me if I had a piece of glass beneath her to catch the glands. I didn't. :wallbash:

If I were going for large scale kief production, I would hang up my ladies in low RH environment for extended periods of time until the glands will easily separate with a gentle nudge or tap to the stalk/stems. Of course have a large piece of glass beneath to collect the material or whatever else you want collect it with, but I like large pieces of glass. Ive got a 4x4 piece now..:biggrin:

After scraping it up gently from the glass you can then work it gently through your screens, bags, etc method you use to further refine.

The key is not to begin with a lot of contamints. Lots of agitation creates more contaminants in the product. You'll get better results by having less agitation.
 

CannaBrix

Member
Forget the whole secret separation thing....it doesn't matter and is the wrong thread to even discuss it.

So dryer glands are less prone to breaking?
and dry glands also fall off the raw material easier?

Does anybody have any sources for this, or is it all first hand experience?
I love sources <3
 

EsterEssence

Well-known member
Veteran
The dryer the material the easier the glands fall off. As long as the glands are COLD they wont break as easily, i find that working between 35-40* is easier on me being in the cold room and the glands are workable. If it is gooing up when you work with it it is too warm...This is all hands on experience for me 20 something years...
 

Dave Coulier

Active member
Veteran
Forget the whole secret separation thing....it doesn't matter and is the wrong thread to even discuss it.

So dryer glands are less prone to breaking?
and dry glands also fall off the raw material easier?

Does anybody have any sources for this, or is it all first hand experience?
I love sources <3

Just first hand experience. I dont know of any studies that researched the best way to make dry sift, but I wish I did! :biggrin:
Do some experimenting yourself with your harvest next time and see how things work out for you.
 
I can only talk about making the kief, I don't do the extraction, and Sam won't let me tell how to do the separation.

What's the reason why this technique has to be a secret?

You have to ask Sam, I was asked not to talk about it.

Thanks for sharing the photos EsterEssence. You show how simple it can be to automate dry sift.

I believe there is a bubbleman video showing some advanced techniques in getting the finest grades. It had something to do with putting a metal screen directly below the silkscreen. I think it caused the stalks to jam up in btwn the 2 screens while the heads would then fall through... i'll see if I can find it.

-pH
 

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