Filtration is a pain when using powdered plant material. I process large quantities of
P. harmala and even with a fancy vacuum pump and buchner funnel, filtering is the most time-consuming and wasteful step of the entire procedure.
If using powdered plant material (or any other fine powder for that matter, especially large quantities), I recommend letting the whole thing settle overnight, then very carefully decanting the liquid portion in to a filter. The top liquid is generally silt-free if you let it sit long enough and will easily pass through a filter using only gravity. Once you get down to the bottom or the silt starts getting mixed in, you can use vacuum filtration or wrap it in a large filter and squeeze out the juice.
Endless's homemade system sounds like it would work great (make sure you have a thick-walled bottle or the suction from the vacuum will make it implode), but also consider buying a vacuum pump/buchner setup from eBay. They are a worthwhile investment if you plan on doing extracts in the future. tips: avoid pumps that require oiling, avoid the fritted buchner funnels (the ones with a thick porous white layer, they are easily ruined by plant fats). Get a plastic or porcelain buchner that just has a flat layer with a bunch of holes. You will have to use filter paper each time, but they are reusable forever and easy to clean.
A decent pump will be between 150-300 bucks depending on how lucky you get with eBay. I use a Welch Model 2522B-01 and love it to death. I've even accidentally sucked up large amounts of plant goo in to the pump and it took about 10 min to take it apart, clean, and put back together (and it worked even better after than the day I got it). The buchner funnel and sidearm flask will be anywhere from 40 to 140 bucks depending on how big you want it. Pricey, but if you take care of them they can give you a lifetime of easy, efficient filtering
-Treehouse
Life is effort and I'll stop when I die!
21:26:26 ‹Adept1›It's as close to a fact as you can get
Loose lips cause bad trips.