Making own oil or honey oil

yummy fur

yummy fur

Well-Known Member
fskitch said:
Stays kind of gooey even after the freezer.
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What did the unevaporated solution look like before adding charcoal and after filtering the activated charcoal. Also when it's at room temperature you will notice that it has a consistency unlike anything else you have seen. I'd use a couple of tablespoons per oz of weed myself, so I'm interested to know how pale it was after filtering. Put match heads worth of oil in some aluminium foil and burn it off with a match underneath. See how much residue there is, if there is, this is how I used to smoke it in the 70's, chase the dragon, but you need to be careful to not let the foil get red hot.

Here's a funny story, a friend of mine bought his friend around who apparently has a very high tolerance so he said, gave him one spot of oil then we heard a crash as he fell over and just stayed collapsed on the floor. I've never seen that before.
 
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DCcan

DCcan

Well-Known Member
Thundercat said:
The way to get a nicer cleaner, tastier extraction is to go fast and cold. I have a whole tutorial in my signature line about how I make my quick-washed iso extractions. It has helped countless people make a nicer product as quickly and easily as possible at home. It will retain most of your terps and leave you a clean delicious dabable concentrate.
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Fadedawg said:
We routinely extracted the sugar leaves and popcorn with the buds. It's all good.

Here is how we extract using QWET: https://graywolfslair.com/index.php/diy-cannamed-production/9-4-extraction/9-4-7-ethanol-extraction/9-4-7-1-qwet
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Well, I like your links and methods. They helped me clean up my oil, increase the yield and quality.
Really appreciate the time you guys put into that, just didn't want you to think it went unnoticed.
 
Thundercat

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
DCcan said:
Well, I like your links and methods. They helped me clean up my oil, increase the yield and quality.
Really appreciate the time you guys put into that, just didn't want you to think it went unnoticed.
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Glad to hear it helped. Lots of people seem to dislike alcohol extracts, but from my experience it’s just because they have had lower quality products. With the process refined and good quality starting material you can really get an awesome quality concentrate though.
 
fskitch

fskitch

Well-Known Member
It looked brown and muddy as usual. Coffee filters had to be stacked 4 deep. Had to filter 5 times, charcoal gets through coffee filters. Maybe next time I'll use tighter filters (lab filter papers). At room temp the AC treated oil stays soft unlike the non treated oil. Non treated oil gets way more viscus..thicker, must be warmed to get a sample out of the syringe. Not much difference in appearance, probably needed more filtering. I feel like 2 tablespoons for 3 oz was too much but it could be due to inferior filtration. On the left is AC treated. Actually looks dirtier due to residual charcoal. Not sure if this is worth the extra effort, will have to experiment more. I eat this oil straight and use it for edibles. I don’t typically smoke or vape this stuff.
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yummy fur said:
What did the unevaporated solution look like before adding charcoal and after filtering the activated charcoal. Also when it's at room temperature you will notice that it has a consistency unlike anything else you have seen. I'd use a couple of tablespoons per oz of weed myself, so I'm interested to know how pale it was after filtering. Put match heads worth of oil in some aluminium foil and burn it off with a match underneath. See how much residue there is, if there is, this is how I used to smoke it in the 70's, chase the dragon, but you need to be careful to not let the foil get red hot.

Here's a funny story, a friend of mine bought his friend around who apparently has a very high tolerance so he said, gave him one spot of oil then we heard a crash as he fell over and just stayed collapsed on the floor. I've never seen that before.
Click to expand...
 
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yummy fur

yummy fur

Well-Known Member
fskitch said:
It looked brown and muddy as usual. Coffee filters had to be stacked 4 deep. Had to filter 5 times, charcoal gets through coffee filters.
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Yeah, I used 8" circular lab filters in a glass funnel, and gravity drain, removes all the AC in one pass. Not sure stacking filters is going to do the job, seems that if it can get through one, then some will always get through but a bit slower. I'd redissolve that and let it gravity drain through a proper filter, it should be the colour of honey.
 
fskitch

fskitch

Well-Known Member
yummy fur said:
Yeah, I used 8" circular lab filters in a glass funnel, and gravity drain, removes all the AC in one pass. Not sure stacking filters is going to do the job, seems that if it can get through one, then some will always get through but a bit slower. I'd redissolve that and let it gravity drain through a proper filter, it should be the colour of honey.
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This one gets consumed as is. Next batch gets lab filter papers.
 
yummy fur

yummy fur

Well-Known Member
@fskitch I read up a bit more about AC today and I was surprised to find that a gram of AC has a surface area of one thousand square metres! While I ground mine up in a mortar and pestle and it filtered out perfectly, maybe that was unnecessary, looks like leaving it in small granules would be good enough, which would be faster to filter too. Some nice explanation of it here
 
H

Hammer8869

New Member
Thundercat said:
The way to get a nicer cleaner, tastier extraction is to go fast and cold. I have a whole tutorial in my signature line about how I make my quick-washed iso extractions. It has helped countless people make a nicer product as quickly and easily as possible at home. It will retain most of your terps and leave you a clean delicious dabable concentrate.
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Hey thundercat, I'm trying to make smokable oil. I use quick wash with everything cold and use Ethanol. I have a extractcraft closed loop extractor. I'm told it does not release all the alcohol and makes me cough, so I'm told to put on mug warmer to complete alcohol extraction, but am told the alcohol will leave sugars behind which makes it harsh. Any way around this or to avoid harshness?

Thanks
 
DancesWithWeeds

DancesWithWeeds

Well-Known Member
yummy fur said:
you'd be surprised at the quality of oil you can get from poorly trichomed leaves. My method for the lower quality is to use 100% acetone.

Get a large jar with a wide neck and a smaller jar that will fit through the neck, and a stocking. Put all the low quality leaves in the big jar, you can really stuff them in, then add maybe 500ml of acetone and don't shake it just put the lid on and turn the jar gently for a very short time, then with enough stocking over it so that you can use the smaller jar to gently squeeze the weed. The whole process from pouring in the acetone to pouring/squeezing out the acetone should only be about 20 seconds. I'm not trying to squeeze every last drop because it's only low grade leaves.

If done quickly and efficiently you'll have a pretty pale liquid that you can then evaporate over a double boiler. It makes a very red stoney resin that is more viscous than honey oil.
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I would highly recommend that you purge it with ethanol after extracting with acetone. An average run shouldn't take more than a couple spoonfuls. That's just to make sure you get all the acetone out.
 
HenryTheEighth

HenryTheEighth

Well-Known Member
yummy fur said:
Yeah, I used 8" circular lab filters in a glass funnel, and gravity drain, removes all the AC in one pass. Not sure stacking filters is going to do the job, seems that if it can get through one, then some will always get through but a bit slower. I'd redissolve that and let it gravity drain through a proper filter, it should be the colour of honey.
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Why not just filter through dust masks with activated carbon in them?
That’s heaps easier.
Also I’ve found the cleanest concentrate I’ve made was with hash.
C99 ice wash to be precise. She’s a golden girl. ;)
 
C

CronicOldGuy

Member
Using carbon is definitely a thing to do if you want a cleaner and tastier product.

Carbon will not only remove chlorophyll, but also remove odors and and other nasties that can give a concentrate a foul taste. It should be a step in everyone's refinement process. It is very simple to due and yields great results.

Previously, we were led to believe that using carbon can and will pull THC from the solution. NOT GOOD! When I first read this I freaked right out. I was using it with the assumption that 'more is better'. So I started using it very sparingly. Recent published research describes the loss of THC due to the use of carbon at negligible at best.

With that said, I dont use copious amounts I was using initially. But I still incorporate it into every batch. The use of it is a night and day difference.

I add it to the solution after plant material has been filtered out down to 10um and solution winterized. I add about 7g to every oz of bud/flower used. I add it directly to the solution. If you have a magnetic stirrer, stir it for about 3-5 mins. You can also put a lid on the vessel and shake the living shit out of it for a couple mins. Both will work.
I then filter this thru a Buchner funnel with a 1.5um SLOW filter paper and with a 1/4" DE (diatomaceous earth) cake. The DE will filter out the carbon and any plant particulate.
I do 1 more filter pass using 0.45um membrane prior to evaporation. After nearly all solvent evaporated off in the rotovap and extract becoming very concentrated, shit starts to precipitate out of the concentrated extract. What exactly it is I have no fucking idea! And is pissing me off to no end. But at this point, I shut the rotovap down, filter the concentrate one more time thru 0.45um membrane. Then finish evap and purge.

I would really like to know what this shit is that is precipitating out near end point. The solution literally looks pristine prior. I even went as far as installing a 0.45um capsule filter on the feed tube into rotovap. I am still getting this shit. Am I by-passing the filter paper/membrane in Buchner funnel? If so, why isnt the capsule filter catching it? Anyone?
 
DancesWithWeeds

DancesWithWeeds

Well-Known Member
CronicOldGuy said:
Using carbon is definitely a thing to do if you want a cleaner and tastier product.

Carbon will not only remove chlorophyll, but also remove odors and and other nasties that can give a concentrate a foul taste. It should be a step in everyone's refinement process. It is very simple to due and yields great results.

Previously, we were led to believe that using carbon can and will pull THC from the solution. NOT GOOD! When I first read this I freaked right out. I was using it with the assumption that 'more is better'. So I started using it very sparingly. Recent published research describes the loss of THC due to the use of carbon at negligible at best.

With that said, I dont use copious amounts I was using initially. But I still incorporate it into every batch. The use of it is a night and day difference.

I add it to the solution after plant material has been filtered out down to 10um and solution winterized. I add about 7g to every oz of bud/flower used. I add it directly to the solution. If you have a magnetic stirrer, stir it for about 3-5 mins. You can also put a lid on the vessel and shake the living shit out of it for a couple mins. Both will work.
I then filter this thru a Buchner funnel with a 1.5um SLOW filter paper and with a 1/4" DE (diatomaceous earth) cake. The DE will filter out the carbon and any plant particulate.
I do 1 more filter pass using 0.45um membrane prior to evaporation. After nearly all solvent evaporated off in the rotovap and extract becoming very concentrated, shit starts to precipitate out of the concentrated extract. What exactly it is I have no fucking idea! And is pissing me off to no end. But at this point, I shut the rotovap down, filter the concentrate one more time thru 0.45um membrane. Then finish evap and purge.

I would really like to know what this shit is that is precipitating out near end point. The solution literally looks pristine prior. I even went as far as installing a 0.45um capsule filter on the feed tube into rotovap. I am still getting this shit. Am I by-passing the filter paper/membrane in Buchner funnel? If so, why isnt the capsule filter catching it? Anyone?
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Have you tried filtering thru a Bushner using both the DE and Activated Charcoal?
I have thought about building the filter using a #1paper filter first, then 1/2 packed C-Lite (DE), with 1/4 inch Activated Charcoal on top.
 
C

CronicOldGuy

Member
DancesWithWeeds said:
Have you tried filtering thru a Bushner using both the DE and Activated Charcoal?
I have thought about building the filter using a #1paper filter first, then 1/2 packed C-Lite (DE), with 1/4 inch Activated Charcoal on top.
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Yes, I have filtered thru a carbon cake above the DE. The DE I am using is Celite 545.

But best results were from adding carbon directly to the solution, stirring, and filtering thru DE. Much simpler to just add it to the solution.

I do 2 filter passes with DE. The first pass is the initial sub-zero extraction. I filter it thru a frozen Buchner funnel prepared with a cake of DE. This removes plant particulate and will catch the fats, lipids, and waxes from winterization. 10um Medium filter paper.

The solution then warmed to room temp. Carbon added, stirred, and filtered out thru a second Buchner funnel prepared with a cake of DE. 1.5um SLOW filter paper.

I think it is important to filter down to at least 10um prior to using carbon. This will allow for more 'free' carbon to do it's thing.
 
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DancesWithWeeds

DancesWithWeeds

Well-Known Member
CronicOldGuy said:
Yes, I have filtered thru a carbon cake above the DE. The DE I am using is Celite 545.

But best results were from adding carbon directly to the solution, stirring, and filtering thru DE. Much simpler to just add it to the solution.

I do 2 filter passes with DE. The first pass is the initial sub-zero extraction. I filter it thru a frozen Buchner funnel prepared with a cake of DE. This removes plant particulate and will catch the fats, lipids, and waxes from winterization. 10um Medium filter paper.

The solution then warmed to room temp. Carbon added, stirred, and filtered out thru a second Buchner funnel prepared with a cake of DE. 1.5um SLOW filter paper.

I think it is important to filter down to at least 10um prior to using carbon. This will allow for more 'free' carbon to do it's thing.
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You take yours a couple of what looks like easy additions to my process. I may try it on my next run. My stuff comes out pretty good, but there's always room to improve.
 
N

nexus28

Active Member
Guys, please forget about activated carbon and acetone, don't ruin your product. Acetone adds odor, because it is difficult to remove completely. Carbon absorbs good stuff from solution and not needed at all, use paper filter.
Pentane or butane work best for extraction with solvents.
 
C

CronicOldGuy

Member
nexus28 said:
Guys, please forget about activated carbon and acetone, don't ruin your product. Acetone adds odor, because it is difficult to remove completely. Carbon absorbs good stuff from solution and not needed at all, use paper filter.
Pentane or butane work best for extraction with solvents.
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I cant comment on using acetone as I have never used it before and no desire to do so in future. Ethanol and iso are my chosen methods of extraction.

I will comment on the use of carbon though.

"don't ruin your product." To the contrary. The use of carbon is going to enhance it.

Not sure what you mean by "use a filter paper instead". Regardless of using carbon or not, unless it is sintered or fritted, a filter paper is still required in a Buchner funnel. I dont use fritted funnels as acid is required to clean them thoroughly. I use perforated funnels.

Now, on the use of Carbon. In my opinion, carbon is absolutely required if you want a clean, smooth, and presentable concentrate. I have been using Carbon in my refining process since I first started making oil years ago. The difference is night and day. Taste, potency, and presentation.
Originally, I was using the assumption that 'more is better'. So I was using copious amounts of carbon. Likely twice as much as I needed. This still resulted in a potent concentrate. Then I had read a couple different articles that suggested Carbon can and will absorb desirable cannabinoids. At that point, I drastically reduced the amount I was using. But knowing the benefits, I continued using carbon sparingly.

Today, I use approx. 5g-10g activated carbon for every 1oz of flower used. The amount used depends on extraction temperature. Room temp extraction requiring more. And sub-zero needing less. I mix the carbon directly to the solution and filter it out through DE. This yields the best results. I had tried the 'cake' method as well. Making a cake of Carbon above the cake of DE, and then filtering the solution through the two cakes. Very ineffective and a waste of carbon.

Thankfully, a company has done some research and published their results. Their research indicates and concludes that the loss of potential cannabinoids due to the use of Carbon is negligible at best. Please read this:

Does Activated Carbon Cause Yield Loss in Cannabis Extract?
 
Vegs

Vegs

Well-Known Member
Active charcoal is one of the best filters, among others like multiple coffee filters, and 25-micron filters for BHO extraction.
 
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