Drum Machines
A drum machine is an automatic screening device. You will probably have to build one yourself, but this is easy enough to do with the right materials. The size of the unit depends on how much herb you wish to sieve at a time. Most drum machines have a 1.5- to 2-foot diameter.
The screen is placed in between the two wooden cylinders and the herb trim is placed inside this screen. A small motor attached to the side rotates the drum. As it slowly rotates (at a rate of about two rotations per minute), the trichomes drop through the sieve onto the surface stand between the legs of the drum. A simple mirror or sheet of glass is used to catch the skuff. You can keep the tumbler rotating for up to one hour to get the most from your skuff without applying any pressure.
If you want to apply more pressure, simply place a small wooden ball (or anything that is slightly heavy with a smooth, rounded surface) inside the barrel of the drum. As the drum rotates, the object inside will add a little more pressure to the skuff as it comes in contact with the screen. Different sized screens can be used to extract different qualities of skuff.
BASIC WATER EXTRACTION
Resin glands can be removed from the herb plant by agitating the trim in cold water — typically ice cold water or water that has been chilled in a fridge overnight. The trim is placed in a bucket, which is then filled with cold water. The water and trim are swirled and mixed with a wooden spoon or an electric whisk. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes before scooping out the skuff floating on the surface. The remaining liquid is strained through a coffee sieve to collect most of the trichomes, as they won't pass through with the water. Let the coffee sieve dry and you've got excellent grade trichomes extract to use to make hash (how to make hash the right way). The basic idea behind this is that cold water breaks the glands away from the marijuana leaf matter. The glands eventually sink to the bottom of the bucket because they are heavier than water. The bulk herb leaf matter should stay afloat and can be easily scooped away.
ADVANCED WATER EXTRACTION
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SUPERCRITICAL FLUID EXTRACTION
The ultimate way of making high quality hash oil with butane.
Solvents can also be used to extract raw herb oil from harvested herb flowers. Raw herb oil contains:
• Psychoactive cannabinoids in high percentages
• Plant tissue in low percentages
• Chlorophyll in low percentages
• Trace elements in low percentages (non-psychoactive water soluble matter)
Raw herb oil is best extracted from highly resinous strains like the Afghani herb plant. Strains that have a semi-dry or dry floral trait should not be considered candidates for herb oil extraction because the amount of oil extracted does not necessarily justify the procedure, although the end material is a very high-grade form of hash oil. With these dry strains you may have to perform the extraction process several times before a substantial amount of psychoactive oil is produced. Like any other cannabinoid extraction process, you are better off using a resinous strain to rationalize the end results.
Isopropyl, ethanol and acetone used to be popular solvents for hash oil extraction but the process for each one is time consuming, costly and material-intensive. They often result in smaller amounts of lower grade than you hoped for. There is a much easier and more affordable way to enjoy a purer form of herb oil. The process known as butane extraction produces better results in a much shorter time frame.
Butane extraction is the most popular form of raw hash oil extraction because it is based on an industrial process known as SFE (supercritical fluid extraction) and is very easy to perform. You should only use butane fuels that are recommended for flameless lighters (jet torch will also do). These types of butane are much cleaner and extract raw hash oil better than other butane fuel types that you commonly find at the drugstore or fuel depot. A good tobacconist shop should stock flameless lighter butane.
Butane is a very good solvent for hash oil extraction because it separates herb oils from most other useless plant/bud matter. This type of filtered oil is sometimes nicknamed ^Hash Honey Oil' because the results are like an amber honey. SFE can produce very fine and pure herb oil from resinous strains. It simply separates herb oils from plant tissue, chlorophyll and the other trace elements that we find in most raw hash oils. You can imagine the final weight of the butane extracted oil to be the equivalent of the total weight of anything sticky or oily on the plant separated from the rest of it.
Once you have obtained the butane, you need a pipe that measures 1.5 to 2.0 inches in diameter, is 16 to 24 inch long and is made from either polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene (PE). Basically, the bigger the pipe, the more bud it can hold. Do not use PVC piping because it can be a health hazard. Either PP or PE piping works best and can be found in any good DIY store. Each end of the pipe will need a cap. You should be able to get some PP or PE caps at a home improvement store or someone can make them for you. If you cannot find any suitable caps, you can try using large bottle caps and 'blue tack’ to hold them in place.
You need a stand to hold this pipe. A lab stand is perfect for the job but anything that will hold the pipe up off the ground is fine. You also need a filter. An extremely fine cloth filter, like a bandage wrap with pores or fine pipe gauze, will work well. Any filter that will allow oil to drop through but leave the plant matter in the pipe is ideal. Coffee filters will not work very well unless they have a large pore size. You also need a clear plastic measuring cup, a clean wooden stick (like a medical tongue depressor) and some nicely manicured bud. You should be able to use 1 oz or more of bud in the above pipe design.
In the diagram below you can see the parts in alignment without the stand. The parts are as follows: 1) Butane canister, 2) Top cap with hole for canister, 3) Tube for holding the bud, 4) Filter, 5) Bottom cap with perforations, 6) Cup to catch the oil and butane.
The whole unit should snap into place as follows.
NOTE: Butane is a fuel and will combust when ignited by anything like a spark. If you do not have a professional SFE unit with the proper ventilation, then use butane SFE extraction carefully, outdoors, away from any buildings and other people. Avoid inhaling butane or the exhaust from butane extraction by wearing a facemask.
PROCEDURE:
1. Drill a hole in the end of the first cap that allows the nozzle of the butane canister to fit neatly into it.
2. Drill six small holes near the center of the second cap.
3. Place the filter in this second cap.
4. Attach the second cap to the pipe.
HOW TO MAKE HASH
5. Fill up the pipe extremely loosely (never cram it in) with finely ground bud.
6. Attach the first, or top, cap to the pipe.
7. Mount your pipe on your stand and place it over your clean measuring cup.
8. Open the butane can and turn it upside down placing the nozzle in the top cap. Fill the pipe up slowly, allowing the butane to draw the oils down through the tube.
Butane Filter
9. Remove the butane canister when its weight stops decreasing (meaning it is empty) and move a safe distance away.
10. Wait fifteen to twenty minutes before approaching the apparatus even if the top cap has given up any viable signs of fume release. The butane should have evaporated away, leaving an oil/butane mixture in the cup.
11. Open the top cap to allow all fumes to escape. Butane will still be active in the cup and bud in the pipe so leave these two alone for another twenty minutes. The remaining oil in the cup is raw hash oil with some butane.
12. Any remaining butane can be evaporated by placing the cup into a dish of hot water.
13. You now have made raw hash oil. It should be ready to smoke in a few hours.