Second Introduction

[Sausages]

Hi All! 8 Years ago, after discovering shrooms and getting quite an introduction to psychedelics, I presumed I was going to start experimenting with DMT. What happened instead was a bout with a mystery illness that screwed up all of the plans I had at that stage in my life. Maybe psychs played a role in that; maybe it was the end result of a life out of balance. In any case I've been surviving and and eventually thriving again, but exploring DMT fell off of my life's radar. Psychedelics have played a role in helping me to heal, as has DXM of all things, and my relationship with these substances has become one of solemn respect for their healing potential; Recreational use and even just exploration hasn't been on the agenda for a while. I have a family now and my responsibilities to them comes first.

But finally it feels like I've been called again to try DMT, and am going to try the Lextek with some A. longfolia material - I've heard it's not the best source but it's what I have to work with. Assuming it's successful I'll also construct a Machine for ingesting it. I'm interested in experimenting with foodsafe methods but for now I'm just going to stick with the Lextek, which is within my abilities. I've obtained everything I need

I've got mad respect for this community which seems to have avoided the worst aspects of online culture. Time and time again I've found my questions about this process I'm entering into already answered here. I look forward to sharing my DMT journey with you all. Could be an interesting time in my life again, as I haven't explored breakthrough states in several years.

 

[TGO]

Hey, welcome back!

I've got mad respect for this community which seems to have avoided the worst aspects of online culture.

I agree and this is one of the factors that keeps me coming back to this place. I don't have as much time to post as I used to, but my time here has affected my life in many positive ways. Of course, things still happen, people disagree, argue, and sometimes just can't see eye to eye. But I'd like to say that is true no matter where you go, it is just a part of life. For the most part, people here try to be respectful and mindful of one another. I can dig that.

So anyway, it is nice to meet you. Good luck with the Lextek and machine building!

 

[Northerner]

Welcome back.

There are multiple longifolia varieties. Some have up to ~0.5% but others have only trace amounts of alkaloids. Also harvest time of year makes a significant difference with acacias. Mid-late summer harvests will contain the most alkaloids while mix-late winter harvests contain the least. The difference between the two can be a 50% yield. Longifolia is also known to cross pollenate with other acacias as well. That can add even more variability and confusion to the mix.

If you have poor outcomes you might wish to purchase some leather tanning bark. It's reasonably cheap and grown specifically for purpose in our antipodean country, so no native forests were harmed in it's harvest.

Best of luck.

 

[Sausages]

Thanks for the tips! I'm looking forward to mid-summer, but with so many Acacias in flower right now I'm enjoying keeping an eye out for potential source species; a botanical garden near me has labelled examples of many acacia species, including longifolia (I'm 100% looking not touching), and that's been immensely helpful with identification.

I'm wary of purchasing "tanning bark" after reading this article, though I'm sure there are ethical sources out there it's not a topic that can be discussed in detail here and that's fine, it's something I can look into later. Such purchases aren't in my budget at the moment anyway.

Speaking of poor outcomes I've also just discovered that the lextek has a mixed reputation - some people swear by it, others have noted a history of failure to the point of leaving a note on the wiki page not to use that tek with acacia. It also seems that shellite isn't a recommended solvent, though in theory it should at least be useful for defatting. The MSDS indicates that it's 70-100% naptha and 0-30% n-hexane. At this stage I'm still going to follow the lextek, scaled down to the ~200g of dried, ground material I've collected, if for no better reason than to get a feel for the process. I'm just waiting on some litmus paper, and trying to find some filter paper. Usually it's on the supermarket shelves but this week the only place I've seen it is in an Op Shop accompanying a drip coffee maker, even though I already have one I might just have to buy it!

 

[Northerner]

Many acacia have significant alkaloid content in their phyllodes as well, not always necessary to target bark sources. :thumb_up:

I read the lex tek now and it's got some parts I would use and others I would avoid. I'd substitute multiple long boils with multiple short pressure cooks. I'd use significantly less solvent for the pulls, I'd use a glass vessel like a port flagon rather than plastic, I'd use straight household vinegar for the defat and only do it once (in a jar rather than in a plastic bottle) then remove the a acidic layer out from underneath and move it to a fluted spirits bottle for the last base and pull. If you look at Cybs tek and substitute the short boil for multiple longer cooks and gentle reduction, then skip the initial freeze and send it straight to a mini A/B (solvent to vinegar, shake, decant vinegar, base, pull again, freeze) you should get a good result.

200g is a fine amount for an extraction. 2kg is really a lot.

Shellite is the go to here, it's almost pure hydrocarbon solvent. There's no additives at all.

You don't need coffee filters either really. Handy to have for harmala extractions though.

 

[Sausages]

Thank you so much for looking through the lextek and pointing me towards Cyb's tek, I get the feeling you've saved me a whole bunch of trouble!

I am using the phyllodes, stem tips, flowers and bark. At this stage beggars can't be choosers, but even if there's low or no yield I will get some experience and be better prepared for a second attempt. I do have a pressure cooker and will now put that to use. The only plastic I was going to use would be some tubing for siphoning.

Cyb's Max Ion tek has the best explanation of all the steps that I've seen and crucially (for me) makes defatting seem quite straightforward. It makes sense to defat after the initial acid cook like you said rather than acidifying, basifying, extracting and then re-acidifying for a defat as the lextek describes.

I'm happy to muddle through things for the first time, I'll write down everything I'm doing and will put it all up here when I'm done for criticism as well as any questions I have, though I won't be taking photos. The teks are very well written but some of the jargon used on the forums requires more familiarity with the process than I currently have. My only relevant experience is doing a couple of successful DXM extractions, over a decade ago. I was young and foolish then and maybe now I'm old and foolish but I've also become something of a stickler for safety both at home and at work; I'm confident I can do this safely.

Again, thankyou for your advice.

 

[Northerner]

It's good to read as much as you can and experiment, with your attitude I'm sure you'll do just great. :thumb_up:

With defats and phyllodes you will probably have to do it twice, both after the initial acid cook reduction and again after your pulls a mini A/B as a final cleanup before freezing. It's the same with other fatty leaves as well. It's worth the effort though, oily fatty spice is awful to deal with.

I've got a bunch of notes on acacia extractions, pressure cooking times and other relevant stuff, will post them up or pm you when I get back near my computer. Much of it is gathered from here and there, then tweaked for our local resources. Might be useful.

 

[Sausages]

Again thanks, unfortunately my first extraction had no active yield, I wrote it up here if you're interested in nitpicking.

I wasn't going to try another extraction until summer but fate forced me to a stop near a magnificent droopy A. floribunda specimen, it appears that someone has taken a limb from it at some point in the past. I took a few leafless branches and am working on extraction #2 and #3 with the bark and some tips (#2 is 100g, #3 is 50g). This time I'll be sticking more closely to Cyb's tek, but will definitely do the second defat. Interestingly repeating the first defat on #2 just seems to keep drawing more crud out, so I'm wondering if it's worth skipping the first defat and just doing the second one if all that gunk is still in there, which I'll try with #3.