Any experience with filter press?

[CokFLHX]

Filtering the bark has always been such a pain, that it has t been worth it, although if I could find an easier way to filter, it might be worth revisiting. It does make it easier to pull nps when you use a separation funnel.

I was thinking of getting one of these filter presses. Couples with some good, fine cheesecloth it might be just the thing to make filtering easy enough to incorporate back into my process. Here is a picture of what I mean:


Any thoughts or suggestions??

 

[Sakkadelic]

This would be great for whole rue seed harmala extraction

 

[blig-blug]

What material are those cheeseclothes made from? I would be worried about it getting destroyed by the basic soup. Particularly if it has plastic or something else that can end up in the final product.

 

[Alice the Small]

What form of bark are you using? Powdered or shredded?
For shredded, I just use a stainless steel colander or strainer (like when you cook pasta or something in the kitchen). It's quick and easy and the tea is nice and free of plant material.
For powdered, I just leave it for dry tek because it's a mess otherwise (imo).

 

[blig-blug]

it's a mess otherwise

In what way? Do you mean when using a separation funnel?

 

[doubledog]

Such press is great help in any plant extraction - squeezing through cotton is great.
I use it only when extraction is in acidic phase.

 

[CokFLHX]

UPDATE:

The filter press is a game changer!

The press just did in 2 minutes what previously took me over an hour!


I get my bark shredded. I then use a kitchen grain mill to powderize it. Then I make an acidic solution from water and HCI. I add this solution to the bark and put it through three freeze/thaw cycles.

After all that is when I filter. The press got almost all the liquid from the bark.

Here is another question:

I fridge decant it. How can you filter the Red sludge after decanting? That sludge has got to be loaded with the molecule. I don’t want to waste it.

In the past I tried putting it through vacuum filtration with a Buchner filter but I can’t find a paper filter that won’t immediately clog.

It’s too fine for a press.

Any ideas? Thanks

 

[Transform]

In the past I tried putting it through vacuum filtration with a Buchner filter but I can’t find a paper filter that won’t immediately clog.

It’s too fine for a press.

STB on the sludge?

 

[CokFLHX]

I will try that. The sludge already has a very low pH I would assume since it’s from
The bark mixed with an acidic water solution. I think I’ll make a base solution from water and lye, then just do a pull on the sludge.

 

[Transform]

I will try that. The sludge already has a very low pH I would assume since it’s from
The bark mixed with an acidic water solution. I think I’ll make a base solution from water and lye, then just do a pull on the sludge.

It would certainly help assuage any concern about losses. If it's really acidic anyhow, this tends to suggest that most of the DMT will have remained in solution and the main cause of losses will be from solution that's simply mechanically trapped between the sludge particles.

Rinsing the sludge by suspending it in lightly acidified water and allowing it to settle once more would likely recover most of those mechanical losses, and the wash can just be put into a subsequent extraction once you've established how little DMT it contains.

I've also looked at how much trapped product there might be in the tannin sludge from strained bark tea and it was too small to bother with, unless recycling a wash into a subsequent brew.