could one use lime instead of lye for a STB?

SWIM doesnt pay much attention to chemistry sadly so humor him... swims sure this has already been covered...

Lime takes at least 2 days or more to freebase the bark directly. Though soaking the bark in vinegar for 20-40 minutes makes it take 3-5 hours to completely freebase.

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\/ SWIM's tek, it's got all (if not too much) the info

Yes, it can.

Working with it is different than lye though.

Let me know (pm) if you need some notes to look at.

are you saying that from experience, dimitrius? I thought the fact that lime is so poorly soluble in water makes it a problem to use in an STB, but im just talking theoretically, never tried it myself

Yes, from experience.

It can be mixed with the mhrb and just enough water to wet it, but not too much, and then mix it well and let it react over a day or so....and then pull with solvent.

But this method left a lot to be desired. Now an a/b is employed and the mhrb/lime mass is dried, then powderized for efficient and thorough pulling...and a magnetic stirrer/hot plate is used wherever possible.

cool thanks

yeah thats why, because when I was thinking STB, I was thinking a normal STB, and you are mentioning rather something more like a dry tek (which can still be STB, so you are right, it was just in my mind I was thinking STB as dilute acqueous solution)

interesting about the new method you are using, drying the MHRB and powdering before pulling... how do you dry it, btw? dehydrator, oven, fan ?

uhmm, I put a mini-fan directly on top of the beaker...like, sitting in the rim of the beaker, blowing right down into it.....I put slices through it and chop it as it dries until it's no longer a bit oopy goopy mass, but a pile of practically dry, pea-sized chunks. Then I put all this into a Magic Bullet and powderize it. Then, back into the beaker for pulls.