So I have a large trash compactor and I am in the process of converting it to a large rosin press and I am asking for input from the community to help me design it in the best possible way. The machine is a scratch and dent new model so it had never actually smashed trash. Please refrain from negativity about how its not the best way to extract because we have a large cls system and are in the process of adding a decent sized ethanol system as well. This is an addition to our setup in hopes that we can provide solventless as an option as it is getting popular. My first idea is to get some plates machined for this unit with heating elements in each plate and then create a base for the top plates to press into. I have zero experience with rosin presses, but I have been researching and following many different builds and ideas. I am thinking of using aluminum plates but I am not 100% sure if they are better than ss. Budget is not a real big issue but I am not looking to spend an arm and a leg. Thank you in advance to anyone who has some positive input.
I have had this unit sitting in a barn and we recently brought it down to our facility to convert. I would like to try to reuse this unit before going the route of starting fresh. Also I am open to making the plates smaller than the plate that is currently installed, however I think t would be nice to be able to process larger amounts at a time.
I know very little about the subject, but I would say maybe take into account how sturdy the construction is on the Sasquatch for 200 tons force compared to the item your planning on converting. The Sasquatch is a tank! And 130k
Has anyone figured out the ideal PSI/heat ratio so we can judge all of these presses against a known constant? At that point it’s just uniformity of heat and pressure to differentiate presses from a effectiveness perspective.
I built snowboards for many years, using super heavy duty presses all the time. Joked about making monster rosin presses out of my presses as they were adjustable pressure and temp controled top and bottom. 2’ wide and 6’ long. the big press was over 6kLB sitting on the floor.
i can tell you right now that applying CONSISTENT heat and CONSISTENT pressure over a large surface area is very difficult to achieve. deflection of the platten material (especially with heat applied) means SUPER thick aluminum to provide pressure and heat uniformly.
how much are you trying to squish at once? and that same quantity all the time? i would think that smaller presses would provide more consistent results, just buy as many as you need to get the same throughput.
i absolutely love the mcgyver attitude but i think you might spend a ton of time on the retrofit just to get sub par results.
True, and that’s probably relative to the wax density of the strain. Arguably though, a fixed temp and pressure could be standard, with time being the variable you adjust for each strain. The melting point of all the components is relatively constant, so time and I guess product prep should be the biggest concern. If I’m off base let me know.
exactly. Tis why I think some sort of continuous mechanical extrusion of sorts, maybe gas assisted mech extrusion (G.A.M.E) would work better for high thruput than a static batch style extrusion of oils from biomass. But the “game” here is to not extrude the nasties on the inside of the leaf… tricky…
Make a steel backing plate (3/4-1" or so), it will deflect less than aluminum. Machine a path through it for some 1/2" copper tubing and a matching aluminum plate on the other side where it contacts the material. This style of heat exchanger is pretty precise and fairly easy to manufacture (Mitch better than any electric heating element).
I imagine (and I’ve only squished a couple times) that the distance to the exterior of the plate may be relevant for yield. You may want to machine channels in the platens to catch the oil so it doesn’t have to travel so far to an edge.
Cool idea. That ram has a crazy long stroke. Anyone ever experiment with a slanted or alternative shaped plate set?
Inverted cone shape or channels like Sid and tweedle mentioned?
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