A dirty Animal, a 3-D printer, and a LED walk into a room.....

[stoneyluv]

Oh man, hardly any people and the ones that are there are fucking awesome. It's like we won the awesome life lottery. Except the working for a living part but somebody's gotta pay for government spending. It took me 3 months to frame and first roof deck. 4 days at my real job, then drive 2.5 hrs Friday night. Wake up Saturday and bust ass til Monday night then drive back to Albuquerque and start all over again. Had to take a break. Just got my roof deck inspection. Going back up this weekend.

You'll be way more satisfied later in life that way. My dad and i built my home. we drove every nail, plumbed, wired and touched every single item in this house.

Just more pride that way... till one day when you gotta fix that one thing that you cut a corner on when building and now it bites ya in the ass!!! hahaha

nice work man!

 

[electroguy]

You'll be way more satisfied later in life that way. My dad and i built my home. we drove every nail, plumbed, wired and touched every single item in this house.

Just more pride that way... till one day when you gotta fix that one thing that you cut a corner on when building and now it bites ya in the ass!!! hahaha

nice work man!

Thanks so much. I really have touched pretty much all the materials, driven all the nails and bled all the blood and it's totally worth it. Who has two thumbs and builds their own house?

 

[electroguy]

Thanks so much. I really have touched pretty much all the materials, driven all the nails and bled all the blood and it's totally worth it. Who has two thumbs and builds their own house? Oh yeah, no corners cut, because I'm doing it and I'm 54 to boot. Already later in life

 

[AnimalHouse]

Live resin!!!
It's been an adventure getting to this point and things didn't go exactly as I planned dealing with a 5 day power outage which forced me to move food from my fridge freezer to the deep freezer.
I had to pull the DIY freeze dryer from the deep freeze as a result.
The good thing is temps stayed below freezing the first two days and the three after it never got above 45 so it stayed cold. I planned on keeping it frozen until time to squish but it just didn't work out that way.
Anyways while the pot sat out in the cold I noticed it's vacuum pressure increase about 15% compared to when it was frozen.
When I was ready to open it I wasn't sure what to expect. To my surprise it was 100% freeze dried weed! Onto the squishin'!!!

Here's the freeze dried batch on the right finished up compared to it's still fresh & frozen sister batch

Here's the freeze dried weed on the right next to another batch of similar grade weed dried on the rack as normal. The freeze dried is a brighter green and the trichs are extremely fragile

Close up of freeze dried weed

I loaded up two 2"x4" 120 micron bags. I fold in the bottom corners to prevent blowouts, pack firm but not super hard, then fold over the top like a Xmas present wrapping and load the press

I run my press at 185, just a good all around temp that works for a lot of grades of material and these bags.
After max pressure is applied I let it squish for about 3.5-4 minutes

Results

Super Bowl Sunday I am so dipping my nectar collectors in this!!!

So I'm feeling really groovy about making live resin and also finding new purpose for my old BHO purge chamber. I also plan to 3D print drying racks to fit inside the purge chamber to increase volume.
The next grow will see nearly all popcorn and lower canopy buds go in the freeze drier now that the training wheels are off

To compare quality I also pressed some of that regular dried weed and some frosty leaf.
The regular dry is way more waxy but still really good quality

And the leaf trim run is almost pure oily wax, low yielding, and very unstable. Not even sure I want to keep squishing the leaf and may just do some old school pot brownies with it. The value of bags & time is kinda worth more than results.

 

[dreamnfox]

I love tte Greenpoint seeds i have run. I will be running the Screaming Cookies next, with a few other additions. I love the pressing, i was gifted a small one but have yet to try it out. I flash froze some of my outdoor crop to try, now i just need to sit down and do it. Looking forward to comparing notes on the Screaming Cookies

 

[electroguy]

Live resin!!!
It's been an adventure getting to this point and things didn't go exactly as I planned dealing with a 5 day power outage which forced me to move food from my fridge freezer to the deep freezer.
I had to pull the DIY freeze dryer from the deep freeze as a result.
The good thing is temps stayed below freezing the first two days and the three after it never got above 45 so it stayed cold. I planned on keeping it frozen until time to squish but it just didn't work out that way.
Anyways while the pot sat out in the cold I noticed it's vacuum pressure increase about 15% compared to when it was frozen.
When I was ready to open it I wasn't sure what to expect. To my surprise it was 100% freeze dried weed! Onto the squishin'!!!

Here's the freeze dried batch on the right finished up compared to it's still fresh & frozen sister batch

View attachment 1328805


Here's the freeze dried weed on the right next to another batch of similar grade weed dried on the rack as normal. The freeze dried is a brighter green and the trichs are extremely fragile

View attachment 1328807


Close up of freeze dried weed

View attachment 1328806

I loaded up two 2"x4" 120 micron bags. I fold in the bottom corners to prevent blowouts, pack firm but not super hard, then fold over the top like a Xmas present wrapping and load the press

View attachment 1328821


I run my press at 185, just a good all around temp that works for a lot of grades of material and these bags.
After max pressure is applied I let it squish for about 3.5-4 minutes

View attachment 1328808



Results

View attachment 1328809

View attachment 1328810

View attachment 1328811

View attachment 1328812View attachment 1328815

View attachment 1328816


Super Bowl Sunday I am so dipping my nectar collectors in this!!!
View attachment 1328819

View attachment 1328820

So I'm feeling really groovy about making live resin and also finding new purpose for my old BHO purge chamber. I also plan to 3D print drying racks to fit inside the purge chamber to increase volume.
The next grow will see nearly all popcorn and lower canopy buds go in the freeze drier now that the training wheels are off

To compare quality I also pressed some of that regular dried weed and some frosty leaf.
The regular dry is way more waxy but still really good quality

View attachment 1328813

View attachment 1328814


And the leaf trim run is almost pure oily wax, low yielding, and very unstable. Not even sure I want to keep squishing the leaf and may just do some old school pot brownies with it. The value of bags & time is kinda worth more than results.

View attachment 1328817

View attachment 1328818

Sticky

 

[stoneyluv]

man that looks real nice!! i'd say that was a success on a few parts... how did the silica look when done? more white or still just peppered? how much of that stuff did you actually use? you can bake it to reuse right?

squish looks great though, almost half sugar and half sauce!!! i'm really surprised how little the color changed through the process, i thought it would be less green. pretty frickin cool experiment dude!!!!!!

how's the flavor?

 

[AnimalHouse]

I love tte Greenpoint seeds i have run. I will be running the Screaming Cookies next, with a few other additions. I love the pressing, i was gifted a small one but have yet to try it out. I flash froze some of my outdoor crop to try, now i just need to sit down and do it. Looking forward to comparing notes on the Screaming Cookies

Yeah I'm very curious and excited about Screaming Cookies!!
I'll have that, Purple Crunch, and Banana Fruit Cake in my next grow. Should start that in a couple weeks.
Greenpoint's been treating me very well for a long time so I just keep growing their gear haha!

Sticky

Oh yeah!!! BTW love that spot you have up there in Gods country brother! After last week's power outage and it fucking up everything from mail to groceries around here I tell ya city life is sucking more and more each day.

man that looks real nice!! i'd say that was a success on a few parts... how did the silica look when done? more white or still just peppered? how much of that stuff did you actually use? you can bake it to reuse right?

squish looks great though, almost half sugar and half sauce!!! i'm really surprised how little the color changed through the process, i thought it would be less green. pretty frickin cool experiment dude!!!!!!

how's the flavor?

Well I haven't tried it yet but I have a very good excuse....I've been test smoking this crop for dryness and all that and this shit just keeps knocking me in the dirt so I've been so high off this flower I haven't touched any squishings for a few days.
It's stabilized nicely though. All the sauce has firmed up and now it's all like ear wax. Even the regular dried stuff has pretty much dewaxed itself.

Here's a before and after of the silica. I used about 1.5lbs or enough to cover the bottom of the pot about 1/4-3/8 inch deep.
I've kinda rattled the pot around so the color has mixed a bit with the clear beads but I'd say 50% turned clear, 25% lightened up to a blurple color, and the other 25% are still blue & like new. And yep these are the kind that can be backed and reused

 

[Moe.Red]

Yeah I'm very curious and excited about Screaming Cookies!!
I'll have that, Purple Crunch, and Banana Fruit Cake in my next grow. Should start that in a couple weeks.
Greenpoint's been treating me very well for a long time so I just keep growing their gear haha!


Oh yeah!!! BTW love that spot you have up there in Gods country brother! After last week's power outage and it fucking up everything from mail to groceries around here I tell ya city life is sucking more and more each day.



Well I haven't tried it yet but I have a very good excuse....I've been test smoking this crop for dryness and all that and this shit just keeps knocking me in the dirt so I've been so high off this flower I haven't touched any squishings for a few days.
It's stabilized nicely though. All the sauce has firmed up and now it's all like ear wax. Even the regular dried stuff has pretty much dewaxed itself.

Here's a before and after of the silica. I used about 1.5lbs or enough to cover the bottom of the pot about 1/4-3/8 inch deep.
I've kinda rattled the pot around so the color has mixed a bit with the clear beads but I'd say 50% turned clear, 25% lightened up to a blurple color, and the other 25% are still blue & like new. And yep these are the kind that can be backed and reused

View attachment 1329209

View attachment 1329208

Sorry man gotta get caught up but did you use silica beads to trim or something?

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

I was wondering wtf too?

 

[steamroller]

Sorry man gotta get caught up but did you use silica beads to trim or something?

I was wondering wtf too?

The silica was used in the DIY freeze dry experiment that went well.

 

[AnimalHouse]

Sorry man gotta get caught up but did you use silica beads to trim or something?

Nah I use snips for trimming? Silica is for DIY freeze drying

The silica was used in the DIY freeze dry experiment that went well.

The snake didn't bite you!

I was wondering wtf too?

It's always about chasing blondes. Always

 

[Observationist]

This one was crammed in a small closet in my garage. Musta been there almost 10 years. I've had a few drying racks and I don't think I ever used this one before because I remember cutting off some trays and they were not nearly as big as this one. The case was pretty dusty but inside the trays were like new so I proceeded.
I've never liked using net trays but figured they'd be fine for leaf. I put down parchment paper and laid the leaf down in a single layer.
Woulda used a table but there's so much trim I didn't have enough room on my table.
Looks like it's worked well and all the leaf is dry already so I'll bag into a grove today and get that rack out of my room and out of my way.


Thanks Buddy!
*
*
*
*
So here's my DIY freeze dry and beginning of my attempt to make live rosin.
In the end, if I get 5 grams I'll be very happy and if this works even happier.
I love live extracts but there's no way I'm gonna spend big $$$ on a freeze drier so when I get a good harvest with plenty to use for experiments, freeze drying and live resin is always at the top of the list of experimentation.

I found this idea online and liked it mostly because I could use better equipment than the tutorial which used a marinating dish and hand pump for wine to make freeze dried strawberries.
I'm using a BHO purge chamber and powered vacuum pump I used for purging BHO and installing the mini split AC system for my home. Cue the Tim Allen "More power" grunts

My gear...
3 gallon purge chamber made of aluminum with sealing lid that has a ball valve connector T and pressure gauge.
Stainless steel steam pot strainer.
2.5 CFM vacuum pump.
About 1lb of silica beads. I got the blue kind that turn white when filled with water and they can be dried out for reuse.
Medium size deep freezer.

View attachment 1324184

To start I cut down what I wanted to use off the plants and froze it right away for a few days

View attachment 1324187


First I cleaned all my gear and to begin the freeze dry I added the silica to the purge chamber. I think the ratio is around double the weight of bead to material added. I didn't weigh it or anything and just figured the more the better.

View attachment 1324185


Next in goes the strainer and this is just used so the material does not have contact with the silica beads

View attachment 1324186

And then the weed

View attachment 1324188


And now comes the purge. I did this with video so Y'all can see the vacuum happen and it even began to pull some vapor from the chamber so I'm thinking this might actually work!

View attachment 1324192


Ok so now the chamber is under a vacuum and I put it back in the deep freezer where it'll sit for a few days then I'll check it's progress.
But basically the way this should work is that under the vacuum, the water in the material will turn to vapor and instead of using the pump to keep pulling, hopefully the silica absorbs that vapor and leaves me with some freeze dried cannabis. We'll soon find out!

View attachment 1324189

And since I'm feeling really good about this grow, harvest, and future I decided to treat myself to some new toys...

Another Terp Pen and I also ordered the mystery box from Boundless which came with another XL pen plus a bunch of tips! Pretty good deal for only $59!

View attachment 1324183

And a little fancy upgrade to my desktop rolling station courtesy of BlueBus

View attachment 1324190

Stealing this down the line

Live resin!!!
It's been an adventure getting to this point and things didn't go exactly as I planned dealing with a 5 day power outage which forced me to move food from my fridge freezer to the deep freezer.
I had to pull the DIY freeze dryer from the deep freeze as a result.
The good thing is temps stayed below freezing the first two days and the three after it never got above 45 so it stayed cold. I planned on keeping it frozen until time to squish but it just didn't work out that way.
Anyways while the pot sat out in the cold I noticed it's vacuum pressure increase about 15% compared to when it was frozen.
When I was ready to open it I wasn't sure what to expect. To my surprise it was 100% freeze dried weed! Onto the squishin'!!!

Here's the freeze dried batch on the right finished up compared to it's still fresh & frozen sister batch

View attachment 1328805


Here's the freeze dried weed on the right next to another batch of similar grade weed dried on the rack as normal. The freeze dried is a brighter green and the trichs are extremely fragile

View attachment 1328807


Close up of freeze dried weed

View attachment 1328806

I loaded up two 2"x4" 120 micron bags. I fold in the bottom corners to prevent blowouts, pack firm but not super hard, then fold over the top like a Xmas present wrapping and load the press

View attachment 1328821


I run my press at 185, just a good all around temp that works for a lot of grades of material and these bags.
After max pressure is applied I let it squish for about 3.5-4 minutes

View attachment 1328808



Results

View attachment 1328809

View attachment 1328810

View attachment 1328811

View attachment 1328812View attachment 1328815

View attachment 1328816


Super Bowl Sunday I am so dipping my nectar collectors in this!!!
View attachment 1328819

View attachment 1328820

So I'm feeling really groovy about making live resin and also finding new purpose for my old BHO purge chamber. I also plan to 3D print drying racks to fit inside the purge chamber to increase volume.
The next grow will see nearly all popcorn and lower canopy buds go in the freeze drier now that the training wheels are off

To compare quality I also pressed some of that regular dried weed and some frosty leaf.
The regular dry is way more waxy but still really good quality

View attachment 1328813

View attachment 1328814


And the leaf trim run is almost pure oily wax, low yielding, and very unstable. Not even sure I want to keep squishing the leaf and may just do some old school pot brownies with it. The value of bags & time is kinda worth more than results.

View attachment 1328817

View attachment 1328818

FUCKING AWESOME.

Vacuum chamber ftw.

 

[AnimalHouse]

Stealing this down the line

FUCKING AWESOME.

Vacuum chamber ftw.

I'm running the second batch of freeze dry experiments today...Yesterday I changed the oil in the vacuum pump (very important to keep it alive) and this time I'll be running it on a timer to automate the purge.
I'm super happy with the results and now it's just fine tuning

 

[Observationist]

I'm running the second batch of freeze dry experiments today...Yesterday I changed the oil in the vacuum pump (very important to keep it alive) and this time I'll be running it on a timer to automate the purge.
I'm super happy with the results and now it's just fine tuning

Awesome, I'll be keeping an eye out, I'll have to try this at some point.

 

[Moe.Red]

Nah I use snips for trimming? Silica is for DIY freeze drying

Interesting hack.

All the water goes into the silica like a desiccant?

On my freeze drier the individual trays have direct cooling. There are a few cycles where it increases temp to get the water liquid again to get any remaining with a second freeze cycle. I'm sure you could duplicate all of that with a little ingenuity. You clearly have that!

 

[AnimalHouse]

Interesting hack.

All the water goes into the silica like a desiccant?

On my freeze drier the individual trays have direct cooling. There are a few cycles where it increases temp to get the water liquid again to get any remaining with a second freeze cycle. I'm sure you could duplicate all of that with a little ingenuity. You clearly have that!

Yep exactly but I think the silica is needed more when a manual wine pump and marinating vacuum dish is being used. Having the vacuum pump do the purge gets that water turned to vapor and I can see the vapor being pulled out but when the pump is not on then the silica absorbs that moisture vapor. With this the silica is more of a backup system to collect the vapor rather than the primary.
It seems the physics of freeze drying can be done this way but it is hell on the vacuum pump and it took roughly around 6 days to get the weed to a freeze dried state

 

[AnimalHouse]

Taggin' & baggin' day!

112 days of farming, 15 days of drying and finally, there's something to show for it

I'm taking a break about half way thru and kinda surprised how much weed is in this haul. Already filled up five 1oz bags and one 4oz bag. I don;t ever weigh since this is all personal use but I'd bet there's at least a lb here. And the finger hash ball is getting huge!!!

A new wrinkle I've added to harvest is thanks to Grove Bags and the Cannamuseum 1oz bags. These caught my eye and I thought what a great way to isolate and celebrate those best buds from each crop and make them museum pieces, never dipping into these bags except for special occasions and holidays. Like Wednesdays for example.
So here's my museum pieces pulled from this crop so far filling two 1oz bags

 

[AnimalHouse]

Final tally on this grow with everything separated by grade...

Two 1oz bags of elite buds
Five 1oz bags of top cola bud
Two 4oz bags of secondary colas and hi grade nugs
One 2oz bag of freeze dry for extraction
One very overstuffed 1oz bag of popcorn & trim for extraction
One aluminum tray filled with resinous trim leaf & frosty bits

Finally after all the trimming and bagging and the trays are empty there's this left over

So I collected and combined it with all the bits of finger hash and scissor hash and pressed it a bit to come up with one helluva gnarly chunk of finger hash weighing in at 4 grams

So that about does it for this grow and diary but the new grow is already being planned out and readied. I hope to be documenting all that starting in the next couple weeks. It's gonna be fun with ganja and peppers, and even a new bigger and better 3D printer!
Happy growin' & tokin' Farmers!

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Killer job bro, so fun to watch! Congrats and enjoy