It's best to use uncured bud, I only let mine dry out for five days for optimal rosin yield. Some really resinous looking bud doesn't press out anything, that's what really changed my whole approach to pheno selection. I've found that there's some kind of mysterious component that makes some bud more optimal for rosining than others. Most don't look outwardly as frosty.
If you're using a hair straightener, set it to about 280-300 and apply pressure with your knee instead of your hands. That made a huge difference before I built my press. Make sure you don't have the bud on the crease of the parchment paper fold. The knee is really crucial though, use a stone surface like the one in that picture and really center all your weight on it and press for about 8 seconds.
here's a press I threw together out of a $15 digital relay, 50w tube heating element, harbor freight arbor press, and some scrap metal I milled and welded on. The rig is less than a hundred bucks and a lot more consistent if you have a drill press and a stick welder handy.
![IMG_20160401_180822_426.jpg](/data/attachments/2844/2844439-3bc009a354cccea899ff4023b4eef5fd.jpg)