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Ha thats was gonna be my game too, looking into press's now and tea bags.
 
Only thing I'd bring up is will you be able to fix it if something goes out? Literally the hydraulic press I got is the most expensive piece. Only a few things could break, and can be fixed/replaced easily, and cost effectively yourself. Just saying. Have only seen home built, and expensive ones in person. Interested to hear the quality of a $400 purchased one
 
I would rather make mine from a hydraulic press. well, i got steel stock, a welder and a few 8 ton bottle jacks laying around. but the cost of the harbor fright, i may as well buy that one, and its painted too. lol
 
There is a reason that I stayed away from the hydraulic concept.....

When you're pressing, you place the platens together and let them just touch and VERY gently squeeze the puck. After about 5 seconds of warmup time, I press a little harder, REAL slow. At the end, I press real fast with all the might that the press has to offer until the rosin stops flowing.

Sounds a little extreme but others have mentioned this 'finesse' when pressing and I believe it makes a big difference.

With that said, I don't think you could 'finesse' a hydraulic press.

Albeit, not having one, I can't say for sure if that would be a down side but it seems to be that it would be.

Plus, that would be a giant up-grade in cost. Especially when compared to Harbor Freight's $60 press (actually, it's $79 but there are ALWAYS 20% off coupons for HF.)

If you're looking at hydraulic, consider searching for a 'vulcanizer'. They are just about what we need... 2 heated platens and a press (hydraulic).
 
a hydraulic is nothing more than a bottle jack in a fixed framework. i am not sure how much distance you have to travel, but a bottle jack typically travels 1/4 inch of travel on the ram per pump of handle. i have to get pretty exact when i am lining up engines. idk, but 400 bucks is out of my range. so i will most likely be building my own, or a HF upfit or something
 
Hackerman said:
I wish I had someone to handle my equipment. And, I mean my drum equipment. LOL

Hauling the gear is the toughest part about a gig these days. If all I had to do is grab my sticks and show up to play, I would play a lot more often.

In case you want to get a jump start on your press, check these out...

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=cartridge+heating&_blrs=spell_check

They are called cartridge heaters (used for heating molds). Order them now from China and they will be a month getting to you. You can get them stateside but check out the prices... China is under $5 each with free ship. You need 2.

Then, order 2 of these..... you can pick and choose your size. Keep them about 1" thick or they won't fit in your press and open for the parchment. The mouth to the press is only so wide. I bought some 2" blocks and the total of 4" plus the mount and the opening was too wide for my press. So, 1" thick is a pretty good thickness. I went 3" in diameter.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-Inch-Diam...987378?hash=item41986a7332:g:bvMAAOSw3ydViHY7

This is also where you might want to make a decision. I went with round. Almost all the other models I see are square. It seemed to be more efficient squeezing from the center out to all edges, rather than just out one side. 6 of 1, half dozen of the other, I suppose.

And, that's it. $15 for the aluminum plates. $10 for 2 heaters. Bingo, all you need is the Harbor Freight press. The rest is DIY. Drill the holes for the heaters. I had a friend smooth the surfaces for me although, I don't really think that's necessary. Wire the heaters to a plug. You probably already have a variable fan control (used to control the temp of the heaters).

I just can't see the $400 for a set of pre-made platens. Some of them are pretty cool and have some neat features but, in the end, it's just 2 hot pieces of aluminum. LOL

OK, sorry to get off topic.
Click to expand...

Yeah, hauling the equipment was a job, especially as he played double base. One of the other guys in the band used to ask me if I wished I was dating a harmonica player.

I thinking buying a piece at a time would be a good idea for me. I will definitely be making my own and saving money where I can--400 is also out of my range. I will do some research on manual vs hydraulic presses. I do see the advantage of the manual press and finesse.
 
I found that the hand press doesn't exert enough pressure. My hydraulic unit has a pressure gage attached so I finesse the press so to speak. If you press too much pressure before it is warm enough, the kief in the rosin bag will cause the bag to burst and the rosin and keif mix together and ruins the pressing.
 
wait, you can have a manual hydraulic. they are all hydraulic, some just use a pump handle, others use a small pneumatic actuator to achieve hydraulic pressure.
 
yes mine is manual hydraulic. some have an air compressor built in also.
 
OK, maybe we need to re-define what you mean by hydraulic press... LOL

You're right YD, I guess anything that uses a bottle jack could be considered hydraulic. I was definitely using the wrong word.

I am looking at the one umbra posted above. No manual pump, all air compressor driven and and controlled by, what looks like an up and/or down button. Like I said, I don't have one but from the looks, that style would be hard to 'finesse'.

Umbra, when you say that yours is 'manual hydraulic', can you post a link or something? Thanks

And, sorry, OP, HG for trashing your e-juice thread with this rosin stuff. LOL
 
Hackerman said:
And, sorry, OP, HG for trashing your e-juice thread with this rosin stuff. LOL
Click to expand...

I don't consider the thread hijacked at all. The making of the concentrate is a big part of making the liquid.
 
yes, i agree with thg. this thread has been a huge help with all the info, opinions and experiences.
 
Cool. In that case, I'm still looking for a little clarity. LOL

Thanks gang, one last question and I think I'll actually have a full understanding.

So, anything that uses oil will be a hydraulic oil jack. Duh. LOL The difference between automatic and manual being that one has the pressure controlled by a hand activated pump and the automatic being controlled by compressed air and digital controls.

Is that pretty close?

With that said, a 'hand' press as umbra talked about earlier would be something more like an arbor press?

Like this? https://www.harborfreight.com/1-ton-arbor-press-3552.html

If so, I would definitely stay away from these for pressing rosin. I had to stand on mine to get enough pressure and having to hold it down for 30 seconds and more was pretty painful sometimes.

I do use mine to make the pre-press pucks. But, that's a whole nother topic. LMAO

Thanks again, gang.
 
The unit from harbor freight isn't hydraulic...it's just mechanical advantage with a notched lever. Mine has a pressure gage and I can get 4,000 psi from a squish. Perhaps its just a bottle jack, but works fairly well.
 
That's another thing I noticed. You guys have gauges and I don't.

I'm not sure about the original bottle jack that came with the HF press because it failed pretty quickly and I replaced it with a Husky 6 ton model. I think it's hydraulic. You tighten the screw and pump it up. Then loosen the screw to release it. Here's a pic.

I would love to have a pressure gauge. Does that mean I'm replacing my jack again? LOL

View attachment jack.jpg
 
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