OK. If this is allowed, I will post what I have found in my quest for Affordable Extraction and refinement Equipment. Items will be posted as I find them, not in order they would be utilized. The majority of the equipment can be found at Vevor. Prices are good, very fast shipping, and what I have received from them to date has been very acceptable. Some items listed I have not personally purchased or tested. I will indicate this. If and when I do purchase these items, I will update as required. I will include prices at time of writing.
DISCLAIMER: I am no scientist or expert. But my former career in the oilfield involed some chemistry and fractional distillation among other things. So I kind of have a foot in the door. I am simply Jonny Joe offering up what I have learned and found in my quest of making my own FSO. Fortunately, seems we do have a few resident scientists/experts in house. With that said, I am on a learning curve with some of this equipment and their procedures. I can only offer what I have learned from experience and the vast knowledge of the net. There are far more knowledgeable people here in this forum than me. Feel free to correct me.
My aim is to help others with an affordable solution to produce high quality concentrates for personal use. Some day I will take on growing. In my opinion, growing quality bud and extraction are both arts in them selves.
I will start with a Reaction Chamber as it is versatile and you can actually do extractions with it. With the right setup, it could almost be turn-key.
Reaction Chamber
VEVOR Jacketed Reactor 5L Laboratory Glass Reactor $1044.99CAD - Purchased
- Extractions, Homogenize, Infuse, Winterize, Colour/Pestiside Remediation, Distillation/Solvent Recovery, Decarboxylation
Biomass Press
VEVOR Wine Presser, 0.5Gal/2L Grape Press $99.99CAD - Purchased
- Press and squeeze biomass to recover as much solution as possible. Waste not - want not.
EVAPORATION / SOLVENT RECOVERY
Source Turbo $735CAD - Purchased
Great machine! The first actual piece of equipment I have purchased. Works great and as advertised. You can evaporate and efficiently recover the solvent. You can use it as a
Vacuum Pump to utilize a
Buchner Funnel to
Vacuum Filter the solution prior to evaporation.
- Although ExtractCraft endorses the use of the
Source Turbo for Vacuum Filtering, and it does it great, I wouldnt recommend it. I did it in a pinch, but get a dedicated pump. Dont wear the turbo out filtering. And there is a chance you could suck solvent into the unit if volume in flask gets too high. You not only killed the pump, but can no longer use the
Source Turbo for what it is. I am not going to risk it again.
Small batches and takes approx two hours for one cycle. Several cycles maybe required to fully evaporate the batch solution.
- Evaporation and solvent recovery. Vacuum filtering. Possibly decarboxylation (i havent confirmed)
Rotary Evaporators
The unit
@Moe.Red utilizes in his video is a much better and solid unit than the ones I list. Its the real deal. I would recommend it first. However, it is priced about $2500CAD just for the Rotovap alone. We are trying to be on the 'cheap' in this thread.
Lumana Rotary Evaporator 5L ($351.00) - Purchased
Ordered but still on boat from China.
@Moe.Red pointed out to me that there is no Bump Trap. That might be an issue. I believe a Bump Trap can be found for it. Will have to be very careful in the mean time.
- Evaporation and Solvent Recovery
Bmatwk 1L Roary Evaporator ($51.00CAD)- Purchased
This is almost laughable in pricing. Ordered but still on boat from China. Expectations are not high.
- Evaporation and Solvent Recovery
Vacuum Pump / Chiller / Cold Trap
Circulating Water Vacuum Pump Air 60L/min Stainless 180W Lab Chemistry Equipment ($221.99) - Purchased
This unit acts as a Vacuum Pump, Water Circulating Chiller, and Cold Trap. All required to operate a Rotovap, Reaction Chamber*, or Molecular/Short Path Still.
*Depending on process
- Vacuum Pump, Water Chiller / Circulating pump, Cold Trap*
*Ice Water
Filtration
Buckner Funnel - Purchased
Use a Buchner Funnel with a Vacuum Flask to Vacuum Filter your solution prior to evaporation. A Buchner Funnel is used with Filtrate Paper to Vacuum Filter. Optionally, but I recommend, use in tandem with filter medium(s). Prior to evaporation is the time to do all filtering. If filling Vape Carts, filtering is very important for function and longevity of vape carts.
A ceramic or porcelain funnel is best. I have used a plastic one and it worked. With ceramic or porcelain, less chance of 'leaching' and they retain cold temperatures longer for filtering.
-Ashless Filtrate Paper. I tend to stick with the finer grades. Filtrate Paper comes in various sizes and grades. Match paper size to funnel. Most funnels indicate paper size when purchasing.
- Filter Mediums I have used are
Diatomaceous Earth (Celite) and Activated Charcoal. Charcoal for colour/pesticide remediation, and Celite for lipid/wax removal. Seems to work well.
- There are Fritted Funnels and Perforated Funnels. I prefer Perforated. Ease of maintenance.
This is just what I have found and purchased so far in a hobby that turned quest. Please feel free to post better options or deals. I will continue to update as I find goods.
More to come if mods/admins allow me to edit this post.