by Ed Rosenthal
Mothership Glass’s commitment to community comes through in not just their approach to work but their philanthropy. They regularly donate pieces to events that benefit charitable causes, including the Evergreen State Project.
Health Stone Glass
Company Spotlight
The revolutionary Health Stone system, available in many glassware styles from vapor slides to fully worked collaborations, has its proprietary Vapor Stones at the center. Unlike other concentrate tools, the Vapor Stone allows you to take hits of concentrates much like taking a hit of a bowl. Vapor Stones are small, manufactured discs with a texture similar to pumice whose tiny gaps capture essential oils. When you heat the center of the stone, the oils become viscous and absorb, vaporizing out of its pores. Vapor Stones are inert, made to tolerances of under of an inch, and are easily replaced in whatever rig you’re using. The materials and manufacture are all 100% U.S.
With no loss of oil or vapor, of a gram of concentrate can provide a hit when used properly. The efficiency and convenience of the Vapor Stone and the smooth, milky quality of its hits have made it the go-to piece for numerous aficionados.
The “health” in the company name comes not only from the benefits of the essential oil vapor compared to smoke, but also the heating method. Using a quick flame from the recommended triple-flame cigar torch is less damaging to the environment than using the larger torches commonly used to heat other utensils.
The idea for Vapor Stones came in 2004 when Chad Soren, the founder of Health Stone Glass, was introduced to concentrates that were completely vaporizable, leaving no ash at all. There were many challenges in creating the Vapor Stone, but through determination and a refusal to compromise, he eventually achieved success.
Since 2009, the California-based company has grown into an operation with an office in the San Diego area and two production facilities with 16 workers. Sales have continued to increase every year, and there are plans to expand.
BHO Honeycomb.
Photo: Steep Hill Halent
Chapter 7.
Butane Extracts—
Making BHO Budder, Shatter, Wax
The popularity of products made using butane—hash oil, wax, budder, and shatter—is surging for a number of reasons. They include the products’ strength, versatility in vape pens, and their potential as purer, healthier ways to inhale THC and other cannabinoids. Their THC content is often over 80%, compared to an average of 15% THC for high-grade raw marijuana. Using concentrates is healthier than smoking raw buds, since butane hash oil (BHO) contains no vegetative material and few tars or other carcinogens. The extraction process also kills bacteria, mold, and fungi present in the source material.
Processors prefer butane for a number of reasons: it’s inexpensive and easy to obtain, the equipment is relatively inexpensive, and it has a good extraction efficiency.
OG Kush supermelt.
Photo: Nadim Sabella Photography
These techniques use butane to dissolve marijuana’s active ingredients, cannabinoids, and terpenes from the plant matter. Then the solvent is evaporated, leaving the resin. This can be refined further into a number of products.
Butane extraction is by far the most popular chemical extraction method for marijuana because it’s the cheapest technique available. Inexpensive equipment can be used to refine low-grade trim—though Beyond Buds adamantly advises against it. Butane extraction is an industrial process best suited to professionals.
BUTANE TOXICITY
Butane has low toxicity. Humans can be exposed to relatively large amounts of it without negative effects. The strictest guidelines in the United States call for no more than 5,000 parts butane per million in food products. Washington State marijuana industry standards are 500 ppm. The taste threshold for butane is around 300 ppm. Two forms of concentrates, shatters and waxes, generally test at 200–600 ppm and 30–50 ppm, respectively. Strong terpenes profiles can mask the smell of residual solvent.
Honey Bee Glass Extractors are easy to use and great for first timers who need a dependable unit that seals well and cleans up nicely.
Photo: Honey Bee
HOW BLASTING WORKS
Under magnification, the glands, also called trichomes, look like tiny, clear, white, or amber mushrooms sticking up from the leaf tissue. They consist of a waxy membrane that holds the active ingredients in marijuana—THC and other cannabinoids—as well as aroma molecules called terpenes.
The oils in the trichomes are hydrophobic, meaning they do not dissolve in water the way sugar or salt does. However, the oils dissolve in solvents such as butane and alcohol.
Once all the trichomes are dissolved and removed from the plant, the waste is thrown away and the extract is purged of its solvent, leaving concentrated cannabinoids behind.
DANGERS AND ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
Butane is one of the most dangerous substances you can work with for making hash because it is very explosive. Extract it in a well-ventilated area, such as a specially designed extraction room, or outside in an open area. Don’t perform butane extractions indoors without adequate ventilation such as a lab hood.
Counter clockwise from bottom right: butane reservoir, Yellow Jacket pump, packed cylinder, viewing port, BHO collection reservoir.
Photo: David Downs
At room temperature butane is a flammable gas that’s heavier than air. Instead of off-gassing and diffusing, butane pools on the floor and flows until it dissipates. If it comes in contact with an open flame, such as a pilot light or hot water heater, just a spark of static electricity, or a lit joint or lighter, it explodes.
Never smoke or use your cell phone around butane extraction equipment. Leave your lighter, smokes, and cell phone elsewhere so you don’t absentmindedly try to use them. Do not wear synthetic fabric or wool. Static electricity starts more fires than smoking.
Butane has a lower explosion limit of 1.6% and an upper limit of 8.75%, meaning air becomes explosive when it is being mixed to only 1.6% butane. That’s a very wide band of flammability.
In Colorado, butane extraction is subject to heavy regulation, and can only be performed in industrial zones. Manufacturers are required to operate special, flame-resistant rooms, with hydrocarbon meters hooked up to automatic ventilators. These facilities must pass official inspections before they can be used.
Although fire hazards are a real problem, butane is not responsible for environmental damage. Open-system extractors dump butane directly into the atmosphere, but it breaks apart naturally in a few days without causing environmental damage. Even so, Beyond Buds strongly endorses methods that recapture butane. The State of Colorado mandates that all BHO production be done on recapture systems. It is safer and more cost-effective than open-ended methods.
BUTANE EXTRACTS—THE CLOSED-LOOP METHOD
Introduction to Recapture Gear
All butane extraction systems contain some common elements, although there are many variations on the theme.
1.Butane reservoir—the butane tank holds the liquid butane, the solvent for the extraction
2.Trim tube—a stainless steel cylinder that is packed with trim
3.BHO vessel—the tank used to catch and hold the raw solution of butane and the extracted cannabinoids, waxes, etc.
4.Vacuum pump—a butane-proof, high-quality, high-speed pump used to create the vacuum or pressure needed to use the extractor
5.Vacuum oven—an industrial oven that pairs with a pump to create a vacuum inside, used to purge BHO of residual solvent
6.Fan—circulates air in open blasting environment to prevent potential build-up of explosive butane—only use fans that do not produce an open spark
A vacuum oven used to purge BHO.
Photo: David Downs
Professional equipment such as the Bhogart Extractor controls temperature and pressure. Works with a pump that increases the extraction speed and recovers solvents safely.
Photo: Bhogart
Equipment
&nbs
p; •N-butane tanks
•Butane extractor with recapture (Bhogart 304 series stainless steel, tig-welded, 1-lb extractor)
•Filters (Whatman lab-grade, medium and slow filters)
•Source plant material (freshly dried and cured, trichome-rich, cleaned and chopped up)
•Oilless refrigeration recovery pump (Yellow Jacket)
•Vacuum oven (Across International vacuum drying oven, 0.9 cu ft)
•Multistage vacuum pump for oven (8 or higher CFM)
•Safety glasses
•Gas mask
•Cold-resistant lab gloves
•Implements: dishes, trays, scrapers, jars
•Laser thermometer
•Chemical fire extinguisher
•Fireproof suit
Obtaining Butane
Butane is a simple hydrocarbon molecule found in natural gas. It’s one of a family of simple organic molecules that include ethane, methane, and propane. After it is pumped from natural gas wells, it is purified and compressed into liquid form for storage and use.
Use lab-grade, 99.5% pure or 99.9% pure butane, called instrument n-butane, from one of the major national suppliers. A tank the size of a small propane tank can be used to extract roughly 20 pounds of cannabis.
Avoid small cans of butane. No matter the alleged purity, consumer-grade cans of butane contain impurities, often introduced at the individual can level. Various oils are used as propelling agents, or to lubricate the machinery to fill the lighter fluid replacement cans, protect the can linings from rust, or prevent clogging. The mystery oil that is part of the production process does not have to be disclosed, and is listed in the ingredients as “one percent other.” Extractors can be used to purify cheap butane and remove the mystery oil.
Preparation
Clean all parts with denatured alcohol.
Plant material should be fresh-cured and very dry. Store-bought cannabis averages 6% water by dry weight. Solvent hash plants needs to get under 1% water. Desiccants can be used to reduce the plant’s water content, but the most reliable way of reducing moisture is to warm the cured herb in the oven at 120°F (49°C) for ten minutes. Either way, drying sacrifices terpenes that are volatile at low temperatures.
Add one pound of chopped trim or buds to the trim tube on top of the chamber. Small, untrimmed, pea-sized nugs can be used. They make a fine grade of wax. Use a wooden dowel to pack it firm and uniform but not tight.
A packed cylinder should be firm and uniform but not too tight.
Photo: David Downs
Blasting
Recapture extractors run in a big loop, with the ability of the operator to interrupt the circuit and send the solvent into a frozen recovery tank.
Install filters. Assemble collection vessel, viewing chamber, valves, packed trim tube, and shower head ball cap. Use the vacuum pump to pull the entire system down to a full vacuum (-20–30 mm Hg) in the system. This vacuum will help you find any leaks in the system before it is used. It also pulls any remaining water out of the system, and helps pull the butane out of its reservoir, through the plant matter, and into the catching bucket.
BHO collection vessel being chilled.
Photo: David Downs
Check all connections. Make sure the clamps are really tight and the system is truly closed.
After the system is tested for leaks, warm up the butane reservoir with a hot water bath to give it some pressure, attach it to the system, and slowly open the butane tank valve. The liquid solvent will rush through the tubes, and begin filling up the trim tube. A manual butterfly valve sends the solution in the tube through the filters, past the viewing vessel, to pool in the collection reservoir.
At first, the system yields super high-end white, amber, or clear extract. The longer you run the system, the more cannabinoids are yielded, but the extract also becomes darker and lower quality from plant waxes and other oil solubles.
Depending on the pump, a one-pound extractor takes about a half hour to run a barbecue-sized tank of butane through three times. Check the pressure gauges regularly.
Closed-loop systems prevent you from seeing what’s going on inside, save for the viewing vessel.
Purging/Achieving Different Consistencies/Decarboxylating
Purging
The extraction process initially results in a solution of solvent and extract. Removing the solvent leads to the different consistencies in BHO. A proper purge can take days and a lot of patience.
Butane has a low boiling point, 31.5°F (-0.3°C). The collection reservoir gets very cold, around 32°F (0°C). The liquid butane takes energy from the environment as it converts back to gas. As the butane returns to a gas temperature in the collection tray, it is recaptured and either recirculated through the system or stored for future use.
Mr. Nice B. Supermelt.
NYC Diesel Supermelt.
Photos: Nadim Sabella Photography
There are two ways to prepare butane for storage: freezing or squeezing. The freezing recapture entails cooling the gas enough to store it as a liquid, while squeezing involves using pressure to return butane to its liquid state for storage.
Use the vacuum pump on the extractor to perform the first purge. Extraction machine makers often modify the collection chamber with a double wall to flow warm water (68°F [20°C] tops) around it to speed the recovery of the solvent. This is called a hot water bath and can be performed with open-ended systems as well.
Heat is the enemy of extraction. High temperature ruins shatter. Heat evaporates the terpenes that give great BHO its smell and flavors. Terpenes begin to evaporate at 68°F (20°C). Heat promotes hash decarboxylation, turning it into a dark oil suitable only for making edibles. Pay special attention to heat at all times. (See Decarboxylation section below for further information.)
This pre-purged BHO scraped from the vessel has great color and consistency.
Photo: David Downs
After the initial purge, the material will no longer be a pool of liquid, or transparent, but rather more like a thick, goopy, runny toothpaste. You can take it out drier or wetter, depending on your goals of making shatter versus oil versus edibles.
Dump the goop onto a Pyrex dish, then scrape it onto parchment paper. Fold the parchment paper into little parchment trays with two- to three-inch walls. Preheat the oven to 94°F–98°F (34°C–37°C).
Now it’s time to apply gentle heat under low pressure to finish purging and processing the batch. BHO is categorized by consistency, with shatter being the most prized. Next comes honeycomb, budder, wax, and oil.
The goal at all times should be the lightest color possible and an extremely dry quality. Great shatter is clear like amber glass, contains no bubbles, and breaks at room temperature. Honeycomb (wax) should be very pale, opaque, or translucent, dry and crumbly. Budder has more of a warm taffy quality to it, while oil is viscous yet tacky.
Extractions made with buds only, called “nug runs,” yield very blond, super high-quality extracts.
Photo: David Downs
The Pure Sativa Supermelt.
Photo: Nadim Sabella Photography
BHO Honeycomb.
Photo: Steep Hill Halent
Kandy Jack Shatter.
Photo: David Downs
Shatter
Aim to make shatter. It’s the hardest to make, requiring lower heat and a longer period of time in a vacuum oven.
For shatter, place the thick, goopy, pre-purged resin on parchment paper in a small oven rack, and place it in a vacuum oven at about 98°F (37°C) and at least -600 mm Hg (Torr) pressure for anywhere from 24 to 36 hours, interrupted by flushes of fresh air and slab-flipping. Temperatures and pressure can vary widely. Torr or mm Hg is a measure of pressure—which is the ratio of force to the area over which that force is distributed. Torr or mm Hg refers to milligrams of mercury, but a more common measure in America would be pounds per square inch, or psi. Pressure measurement converters are available online and -600 mm Hg (Torr) equals -11.
6 psi. Across International makes a high-quality, entry-level vacuum drying oven.
At this point, the amount of residual butane in the solution is low so the butane is too diluted to explode. Butane degrades normal vacuum pumps. Use one that is designed to tolerate the chemical.
Pre-purged BHO loafs in a vac oven set to -30 mm Hg and 85°F (29°C).
Photo: David Downs
As the pressure drops and the temperature rises, the solvent boils out of the resin, causing the material to loaf up. If it boils violently, there is too much residual butane in it. Stop the process, take it out, and let it air dry or give it a hot bath to remove more butane. You don’t want the slab loafing up more than a couple of inches. Increasing the air pressure reduces this loafing.
Heat also plays a crucial role by lowering the viscosity of the patty, allowing the butane to escape. Keep an eye on the bubbles. You’re looking for large, thin, self-popping bubbles. If the bubble walls are thick and not popping, the patty is too viscous and needs a higher temperature to loosen up and allow the butane to purge. Conversely, if you are seeing no loaf expansion the heat may be too high.
Note the viscosity of this lightly purged BHO after the second purge.