Finshaggy
Well-Known Member
I posted this a while back from memory because I couldn't find it, but some of it was wrong.
So I'm correcting it now with copy and paste, since I found it.
It's a pretty simple method for making Delta-9 all the way from plant material.
Initial Extraction ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In a previous version of this file, I recommended ethyl alcohol as the menstruum (solvent) for the initial extraction. However, after further reading and experimentation, I now recommend acetone instead of alcohol. THC's solubility in acetone is, it would seem, much greater than with any other solvent (except for petroleum ether, which we use in stage 2 to purify this first-stage oil). The reason? Alcohols are too water soluble for the best possible purity, and too many other non-psychoactive materials remain in the finished oil. In the interest of brevity, and to save wear and tear on your obedient typist's fingers, it's your own responsibility when reading the following to substitute "acetone" wherever you see "alcohol" used. Fill a large pot with water, and heat to boiling. Place in the water a glass jar filled with loosely packed, cleaned female flowers of cannabis. (Male flowers and even leaves may be used, but only if there is no other alternative.) Add sufficient solvent to completely cover cannabis. Solvent may be any alcohol of 95% or greater purity (i.e., rubbing alcohol works), but ethyl alcohol is best, as it is non-toxic and will not harm you if you "screw up". My personal recommendation is either 99.99% laboratory alcohol, or, since this is damn difficult to acquire, Everclear 190 proof grain alcohol. 151 proof rum isn't the greatest, but if the others are too hard to acquire, this may be your only option. MAKE SURE THAT THE SMALL GLASS JAR IS HELD IN PLACE SOMEHOW! Otherwise, when enough of the solvent boils away, the jar will be light enough that the water pressure will tip it over, and then you will be extremely unhappy (and possibly unlucky enough to witness a gigantic ball of flame lighting up your kitchen, and maybe even yourself). A set of rubber lab grips attached to a heavy base works nicely. Place a watchglass over the top of the jar so that the alcohol will be constantly recirculated instead of boiling off, and keep water at a gentle boil for three to four hours. Let everything cool, and strain all liquid thoroughly from the plant fibers. Place fibers in a cast iron skillet. Ignite the alcohol to burn it off, and while you continue with the extraction of the essence, keep a very low flame under the ashes of the fibers for one hour, stirring them occasionally. If you have an assistant, it's best to have them stir the ashes while you keep working with the essence. To remove the alcohol, you need an accurate thermometer. Set up the system the same way as before, but this time, do not cover the jar. Place thermometer in jar and heat the essence to 220F. Keep a small mirror held over the jar. When the mirror stops fogging up -- i.e., no more steam -- enough of the water has boiled away. IMMEDIATELY turn off the heat and remove the jar from the hot water (don't forget to wear gloves!). This is crude extract, and can contain anywhere from 10 to 50 percent THC. It's perfectly all right to use this oil any way you like. But you can do better. Purification Stage ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To further extract and purify the essence, petroleum ether must be used as the solvent. USE ONLY ELECTRIC HEAT WITH A QUICK SHUTOFF SWITCH, AND DON'T LET OPEN FLAME ANYWHERE NEAR YOU! Petroleum ether is one of the most explosively flammable things in existence, so treat it accordingly -- keep any ether in extremely well-sealing containers and store only in appropriate locations which will not have sparks, flamers, or heat. This article formerly recommended freezing ether, but one problem with this suggestion is that most freezers have a circulating fan that could cause a small spark. Even at normal freezer temperatures, ether is still quite volatile and can leak slowly from many containers. [Edited by Erowid: Feb 26, 2002] Dissolve the crude extract from the previous step in 5 times its own weight of ether, amd add to this volume an equal volume of water. Both the water and the ether must be as cold as possible. Close the holding container TIGHTLY, and gently shake up and down. Uncap to relieve pressure buildup, re-cap, and repeat until you're sick of it. Set it down somewhere cool and safe, where it won't get knocked or vibrated, and let it settle into layers. This will take about a half hour. (The bottom layer consists of alcohol, water, tars, and minor resins. The next layer up is the emulsion layer, and the top layer is the ether extract which is holding the THC in suspension.) Now you need to blow the bottom two layers into another container, which is easy to do if you set up the first container as a bong. Attach a tube to where the bowl would normally go and hang the other end in the sink. Very gently, blow into the tube where you would normally inhale. MAKE SURE THE BOTTOM END OF THE TUBE THAT EXTENDS DOWN INTO THE CONTAINER IS *ALL* THE WAY DOWN TO THE BOTTOM! Otherwise, you will blow all the good stuff into the sink, and you will be very unhappy. Just watch the water level, and don't blow too hard. Don't try to get every last drop; just get as much as you can without getting too close to the ether-THC layer. If you like, add more ether and water and repeat this stage. When it's purified enough for your taste, cook the ether extract in the double boiler at 104F to evaporate the ether, again making sure to hold the extract jar in place. This being the next step up from crude, I guess you'd call this resulting sticky stuff "forty-weight", or something like that. And, as before, it's perfectly fine to stop here. Read on for the gory details on the final stage...because you know you can do better. Isomerization ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This stage rotates all the existing lesser cannabinoids and cannabinols into THC, and all the existing THC into the most active isomer, delta-9-THC. This step involves the use of sulfuric acid, so I shouldn't have to remind you to wear long rubber gloves, don't inhale its fumes, DON'T TREAT IT CASUALLY BECAUSE IT CAN EAT HOLES IN LOTS OF THINGS, INCLUDING YOU. Dissolve the extract in 10 times its own weight in ether. SLOWLY, add one drop of sulfuric acid for each gram of extract, stirring with a glass rod. Heat as in the initial extraction, with the jar covered by a watchglass. Cook two hours, stirring occasionally, and allow to cool. Mix the solution with an equal volume of cold water and one-half its volume of cold ether, and repeat the shaking and separation steps. Take extract and slowly add the calcined ash from the first extraction. Stir it all in, and run the solution through filter paper to strain the ash sediment out. Check for any remaining acid by adding a small pinch of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). If the solution fizzes, keep adding bicarb very slowly until fizzing stops. Add fresh water and ether, shake and separate. Cook at 104F until the ether is evaporated. Voila! You now have essence of cannabis, which can contain anywhere from 85 to 99 percent THC. Expected Yield and Consumption Methods ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In general, you can expect to produce about one ounce of oil per pound of cannabis. Depending on the potency of the individual plant, of course, this amount can vary greatly; however, the potency of the finished essence will always be of the highest possible. To use the oil in cooking, thoroughly mix it into a fat or oil. Examples: sour cream, olive oil, milk. For best results, the resulting mixture should be GENTLY heated before adding it to the rest of the food. Example: mix oil with butter over low heat, and use as regular butter in cookies, etc. To "vaporize" the oil, place it on a metal surface (tinfoil works, too). Heat the surface, and inhale the vapors through a tube. For best results, build a "vaporizer" machine with an enclosed area so as not to waste the vapors (plans can be found in back issues of _High Times_ magazine). Actually, it doesn't REALLY "vaporize" in the strict technical meaning of the word, but I'll assume noone cares about atmospheric pressures and such. The oil can even be mixed with crude cannabis and smoked in a cigarette, and although half of the potency is lost due to the burning, it's still fun, and tastes wonderful. My preferred method of doing this is to use a long, thick needle and heat it with a lighter for about 3 seconds. Wait just a second before dipping it into the essence -- if it's too hot, the oil will vaporize on contact and be wasted. Don't dip it in too far at first until you get the hang of working with this stuff; it has a very unique consistency and behavior, and it sticks to damn near anything. Lay a cigarette paper (preferably Modiano; these have the lowest content of "residue" materials) out flat, holding it down with your fingers at both sides. "Paste" the oil onto the paper with the needle, putting a nice, even coat over as large an area as you can get without smudging your fingers (leave a little unncoated space near each edge so you can roll it without getting your fingers covered in oil). Roll your cannabis in the paper as you would normally. Before smoking the rolled cigarette, place in a LOW warm oven (100-125F) for five to ten minutes to melt the oil. This will not only distribute it more evenly by soaking into the cannabis, but the heat will bring the taste and potency to its peak potential. Smoke while still warm. Dosage ~~~~~~ For an average cannabis user who smokes perhaps once or twice per day, 3 or 4 drops of the essence, either eaten or vaporized, will be quite sufficient for an enjoyable "high" of four to five hours. For a novice user, 1 or 2 drops will usually be quite enough. Individual idiosyncrasies are always present, and no two people will need the same amount, nor will they be affected the same way. Some rare individuals may experience paranoia and psychotic reactions to cannabis, and such individuals would be well advised to discontinue its use. But on the whole, cannabis is a safe and enjoyable pleasure to be enjoyed in moderation, like anything pleasant in life, and truly lives up to its reputation as it has for thousands of years. DEA Judge Francis Young in September, 1988, called it "in its natural form, one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man." May it continue to be enjoyed as long as life exists on Earth.
So I'm correcting it now with copy and paste, since I found it.
It's a pretty simple method for making Delta-9 all the way from plant material.
Initial Extraction ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In a previous version of this file, I recommended ethyl alcohol as the menstruum (solvent) for the initial extraction. However, after further reading and experimentation, I now recommend acetone instead of alcohol. THC's solubility in acetone is, it would seem, much greater than with any other solvent (except for petroleum ether, which we use in stage 2 to purify this first-stage oil). The reason? Alcohols are too water soluble for the best possible purity, and too many other non-psychoactive materials remain in the finished oil. In the interest of brevity, and to save wear and tear on your obedient typist's fingers, it's your own responsibility when reading the following to substitute "acetone" wherever you see "alcohol" used. Fill a large pot with water, and heat to boiling. Place in the water a glass jar filled with loosely packed, cleaned female flowers of cannabis. (Male flowers and even leaves may be used, but only if there is no other alternative.) Add sufficient solvent to completely cover cannabis. Solvent may be any alcohol of 95% or greater purity (i.e., rubbing alcohol works), but ethyl alcohol is best, as it is non-toxic and will not harm you if you "screw up". My personal recommendation is either 99.99% laboratory alcohol, or, since this is damn difficult to acquire, Everclear 190 proof grain alcohol. 151 proof rum isn't the greatest, but if the others are too hard to acquire, this may be your only option. MAKE SURE THAT THE SMALL GLASS JAR IS HELD IN PLACE SOMEHOW! Otherwise, when enough of the solvent boils away, the jar will be light enough that the water pressure will tip it over, and then you will be extremely unhappy (and possibly unlucky enough to witness a gigantic ball of flame lighting up your kitchen, and maybe even yourself). A set of rubber lab grips attached to a heavy base works nicely. Place a watchglass over the top of the jar so that the alcohol will be constantly recirculated instead of boiling off, and keep water at a gentle boil for three to four hours. Let everything cool, and strain all liquid thoroughly from the plant fibers. Place fibers in a cast iron skillet. Ignite the alcohol to burn it off, and while you continue with the extraction of the essence, keep a very low flame under the ashes of the fibers for one hour, stirring them occasionally. If you have an assistant, it's best to have them stir the ashes while you keep working with the essence. To remove the alcohol, you need an accurate thermometer. Set up the system the same way as before, but this time, do not cover the jar. Place thermometer in jar and heat the essence to 220F. Keep a small mirror held over the jar. When the mirror stops fogging up -- i.e., no more steam -- enough of the water has boiled away. IMMEDIATELY turn off the heat and remove the jar from the hot water (don't forget to wear gloves!). This is crude extract, and can contain anywhere from 10 to 50 percent THC. It's perfectly all right to use this oil any way you like. But you can do better. Purification Stage ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To further extract and purify the essence, petroleum ether must be used as the solvent. USE ONLY ELECTRIC HEAT WITH A QUICK SHUTOFF SWITCH, AND DON'T LET OPEN FLAME ANYWHERE NEAR YOU! Petroleum ether is one of the most explosively flammable things in existence, so treat it accordingly -- keep any ether in extremely well-sealing containers and store only in appropriate locations which will not have sparks, flamers, or heat. This article formerly recommended freezing ether, but one problem with this suggestion is that most freezers have a circulating fan that could cause a small spark. Even at normal freezer temperatures, ether is still quite volatile and can leak slowly from many containers. [Edited by Erowid: Feb 26, 2002] Dissolve the crude extract from the previous step in 5 times its own weight of ether, amd add to this volume an equal volume of water. Both the water and the ether must be as cold as possible. Close the holding container TIGHTLY, and gently shake up and down. Uncap to relieve pressure buildup, re-cap, and repeat until you're sick of it. Set it down somewhere cool and safe, where it won't get knocked or vibrated, and let it settle into layers. This will take about a half hour. (The bottom layer consists of alcohol, water, tars, and minor resins. The next layer up is the emulsion layer, and the top layer is the ether extract which is holding the THC in suspension.) Now you need to blow the bottom two layers into another container, which is easy to do if you set up the first container as a bong. Attach a tube to where the bowl would normally go and hang the other end in the sink. Very gently, blow into the tube where you would normally inhale. MAKE SURE THE BOTTOM END OF THE TUBE THAT EXTENDS DOWN INTO THE CONTAINER IS *ALL* THE WAY DOWN TO THE BOTTOM! Otherwise, you will blow all the good stuff into the sink, and you will be very unhappy. Just watch the water level, and don't blow too hard. Don't try to get every last drop; just get as much as you can without getting too close to the ether-THC layer. If you like, add more ether and water and repeat this stage. When it's purified enough for your taste, cook the ether extract in the double boiler at 104F to evaporate the ether, again making sure to hold the extract jar in place. This being the next step up from crude, I guess you'd call this resulting sticky stuff "forty-weight", or something like that. And, as before, it's perfectly fine to stop here. Read on for the gory details on the final stage...because you know you can do better. Isomerization ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This stage rotates all the existing lesser cannabinoids and cannabinols into THC, and all the existing THC into the most active isomer, delta-9-THC. This step involves the use of sulfuric acid, so I shouldn't have to remind you to wear long rubber gloves, don't inhale its fumes, DON'T TREAT IT CASUALLY BECAUSE IT CAN EAT HOLES IN LOTS OF THINGS, INCLUDING YOU. Dissolve the extract in 10 times its own weight in ether. SLOWLY, add one drop of sulfuric acid for each gram of extract, stirring with a glass rod. Heat as in the initial extraction, with the jar covered by a watchglass. Cook two hours, stirring occasionally, and allow to cool. Mix the solution with an equal volume of cold water and one-half its volume of cold ether, and repeat the shaking and separation steps. Take extract and slowly add the calcined ash from the first extraction. Stir it all in, and run the solution through filter paper to strain the ash sediment out. Check for any remaining acid by adding a small pinch of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). If the solution fizzes, keep adding bicarb very slowly until fizzing stops. Add fresh water and ether, shake and separate. Cook at 104F until the ether is evaporated. Voila! You now have essence of cannabis, which can contain anywhere from 85 to 99 percent THC. Expected Yield and Consumption Methods ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In general, you can expect to produce about one ounce of oil per pound of cannabis. Depending on the potency of the individual plant, of course, this amount can vary greatly; however, the potency of the finished essence will always be of the highest possible. To use the oil in cooking, thoroughly mix it into a fat or oil. Examples: sour cream, olive oil, milk. For best results, the resulting mixture should be GENTLY heated before adding it to the rest of the food. Example: mix oil with butter over low heat, and use as regular butter in cookies, etc. To "vaporize" the oil, place it on a metal surface (tinfoil works, too). Heat the surface, and inhale the vapors through a tube. For best results, build a "vaporizer" machine with an enclosed area so as not to waste the vapors (plans can be found in back issues of _High Times_ magazine). Actually, it doesn't REALLY "vaporize" in the strict technical meaning of the word, but I'll assume noone cares about atmospheric pressures and such. The oil can even be mixed with crude cannabis and smoked in a cigarette, and although half of the potency is lost due to the burning, it's still fun, and tastes wonderful. My preferred method of doing this is to use a long, thick needle and heat it with a lighter for about 3 seconds. Wait just a second before dipping it into the essence -- if it's too hot, the oil will vaporize on contact and be wasted. Don't dip it in too far at first until you get the hang of working with this stuff; it has a very unique consistency and behavior, and it sticks to damn near anything. Lay a cigarette paper (preferably Modiano; these have the lowest content of "residue" materials) out flat, holding it down with your fingers at both sides. "Paste" the oil onto the paper with the needle, putting a nice, even coat over as large an area as you can get without smudging your fingers (leave a little unncoated space near each edge so you can roll it without getting your fingers covered in oil). Roll your cannabis in the paper as you would normally. Before smoking the rolled cigarette, place in a LOW warm oven (100-125F) for five to ten minutes to melt the oil. This will not only distribute it more evenly by soaking into the cannabis, but the heat will bring the taste and potency to its peak potential. Smoke while still warm. Dosage ~~~~~~ For an average cannabis user who smokes perhaps once or twice per day, 3 or 4 drops of the essence, either eaten or vaporized, will be quite sufficient for an enjoyable "high" of four to five hours. For a novice user, 1 or 2 drops will usually be quite enough. Individual idiosyncrasies are always present, and no two people will need the same amount, nor will they be affected the same way. Some rare individuals may experience paranoia and psychotic reactions to cannabis, and such individuals would be well advised to discontinue its use. But on the whole, cannabis is a safe and enjoyable pleasure to be enjoyed in moderation, like anything pleasant in life, and truly lives up to its reputation as it has for thousands of years. DEA Judge Francis Young in September, 1988, called it "in its natural form, one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man." May it continue to be enjoyed as long as life exists on Earth.
