Using a still

[Stillmix]

Hi folks.

I’ve been making hash in bubble bags & oil in a rice cooker for ages.
It’s always bothered me that using a rice cooker wasn’t the best method,so I recently brought a still.

I use iso to make oil as due to a rare disability I can’t use organic stuff like everclear ect ; long story.

It’s not the best still & I know I’ll upgrade if I’m happy making oil this way,I see it as a beginner still allbeit in hindsight I wish I had brought a better model,still it’s what I have so I would like to use it.

I haven’t enough posts to show the link to the one I brought.
It’s a 8l/2gl alcohol moonshine distiller

I’ve looked all I can however I can’t find any videos on how to use one to make hash oil.

One big problem is I’ve never used one.
I can my head around most stuff and can still function enough if I need to do any diy on it.

So how do I use this with iso
Do to a rare disability I can’t use organic stuff like everclear ect ; long story.

Do I filter of the iso/cannabis off like I would do using a rice cooker,then add that mixtutre to the large pot ?

Any tips would be great,thanks.

[Jingo]

Even when you have enough posts you can't have links off-site. You can take a screenshot of whatever is you intend to buy.

I use a water distiller that has been modified to distill alcohol for making my oils or tinctures.

I'm not sure if we're talking about the same thing I'll do an ethanol wash of my cannabis and I pour the ethanol into this still and distill the alcohol back out again and it leaves a tincture or a thick oil inside the distiller. I usually cook it down to a tincture and then finish the cooking off the alcohol on the stove.



J

My 2020 outdoor grow autos and photos in pots

Forum Rules

[Farmer Geddon]

I sometimes make vodka and have both a 4L Airstill and a 25L T-500 Reflux still.

The Airstill is a pot still and there's a lot of work involved in getting 'almost pure' ethanol from a pot still. I'm guessing that your 8L still is also a pot still. Can't see them adding a reflux column and only have 8L capacity.

There are 100s of different alcohols and cogeners/whatever in a wash and they mostly all have different boiling points. 4 main groups. Foreshots, heads, hearts and tails.

The foreshots contain methanol and other undesirables. They come out first and have little volume, less than an eggcup full. Next is the heads, can be flavourful in small doses. The hearts are the good stuff, ethanol, The tails come out last, some flavour but mostly crap.

With a pot still, there is a lot of smearing. After throwing away the foreshots, what follows is 'mostly heads with some hearts'. Progressing to 'mostly hearts with some heads'. There is a brief sweet spot where it is 'nearly all hearts'. Then it becomes 'mostly tails with some hearts'.

There is an involved process of doing 2nd, 3rd or even 4th runs with an Airstill to further refine the product but that final product can't safely be more than ~65%/70% abv. That's because the Airstill can throw a violent hissy fit if the wash is much more than 20% abv. Plenty of alcohol vapour filling the kitchen and hot alcohol spraying out. Scary. So the wash is diluted down to 20% abv. Which limits the final strength.

For pure ethanol, a condenser still like the T-500 works well. Not nearly as much smearing and even that can be minimised by running it slower. The makers say run it at 65'C but I run at 42'C. It takes ages but I get a pure product that doesn't need filtering. Very little hands on stuff, I give it a glance every 10 or 20 minutes just in case.

I'm wondering about your bodies reaction to Everclear. Perhaps it is non ethanol alcohols causing the problems? If you still have some, try the 'Devils Beard' test. Ignite a tsp of Everclear and watch the flame. The flame from pure ethanol will be invisible. A yellow 'beard' shows the presence of impurities.

[Stillmix]

Hi

Thanks. Ive managed to get a good enough understanding of how to use the still as a beginner and pulled up a old friend to help me out.

I didn’t buy the air still as i had no idea about them in regards to being able to produce oil from one.

It’s more like a cheep version of the t-500.
With what I’ve gathered a bit of diy and I should have a better chance of getting the results I was looking for when I decided enough of the burning oil in a rice cooker as you just can’t control the temperature.

As for everclear ect I know it’s because of the plants used to produce it.
It’s a real long story via social media to get the full understanding of why. Shame really as I would never grow with chemicals,always used guano and various other organic produce that i have no problem with. It’s the same with the “dreaded“ terpenes that you can buy to add to soil/grow edibles ect they have almost the same effect.

Obviously normally produced terpenes in a grow don’t... long long complaint story lol it would take a while just to understand my genetic mess,medically speaking.

Thank you for the information.

[Farmer Geddon]

People can have different reactions to the various alcohols and cogeners in spirits. I knew a guy who would get a terrible hangover if he drank only a few shots of Johnny Walker whisky but he was fine with other brands of whisky.

With home distilling, white sugar is mostly used. If your body is ok with white sugar, then maybe pot still product is ok for you. If you want 'pure as possible' ethanol, it has to be a reflux still. I did try making my own reflux still but failed miserably at making the coil so I bought a T-500. Commercial spirit is made with a continuous process and there is some smearing. There are licensed artisan distillers who do batch distilling and might make some pure ethanol for you.

Have you considered making butane honey oil? Cheapo lighter gas isn't that pure but there are brands of pure butane lighter gas recommended by cigar connoisseurs.

[Stillmix]

I have thought about making butane honey oil in the past.
This way I thought I could make up bigger batches as it can get tedious making iso oil every few days plus I get the benefit of a new hobby as I was going to make some alcohol in it as well witch I though was a fun project.

I’m good with white sugar it’s actually one of my goto foods that I use to pull myself out of one of my disability's.

Thanks for the heads up about ethanol and other info.

[Stillmix]

The still arrived today,the bloke who was going to help is a busy fellow and he only knew how stills worked he doesn’t know anything about making oil in one.

I was earring of the cautionary side before i saw it. I didn’t figure it was as it was as basic as gets to work.

I cleaned it out with iso & water to clean it and get used to how it ran. ( i outa get some ether )

The one thing I am wondering is if I add a put the iso mix in a unlided pot and raise that with raschig rings will that be better than having the iso mix so close to the heat and help avoid burning.
Thanks

[Farmer Geddon]

Have I misread your posts?

I thought that you wanted to make the solvent (ie. ethanol) and then use that solvent to make oil the same way others do: Weed is steeped in solvent. Solvent is poured off, straining out the vegetable matter. Solvent is left to evaporate, only oil remains.

Not use the still to mix solvent and weed to extract oil. How are you hoping it works?

Why you don't want to make oil in the usual way?

[redisiel]

Even when you have enough posts you can't have links off-site. You can take a screenshot of whatever is you intend to buy.

I use a water distiller that has been modified to distill alcohol for making my oils or tinctures.

I'm not sure if we're talking about the same thing I'll do an ethanol wash of my cannabis and I pour the ethanol into this still and distill the alcohol back out again and it leaves a tincture or a thick oil inside the distiller. I usually cook it down to a tincture and then finish the cooking off the alcohol on the stove.



J

My 2020 outdoor grow autos and photos in pots

Forum Rules

There it is, I've mashed a few distillers now doing this
Nice one J
Blessings and gratitude
Redz

[Farmer Geddon]

To improve product quality, I ran my Airstill on a dimmer at about half power. The fan plugs into a socket on the body of the Airstill but it can also be plugged into the wall using a kettle/pc lead. Gives full power to the fan while running the still with less heat.

4 litres of wash in, 70cl of vodka out.