Hello,
I have just finished my first extraction and I didn't get very good results.
I would really appreciate some help!
The process I followed
I measured out 100g of finely powdered ACRB and put this into a 2000ml Erlenmeyer flask.
I added 500ml of distilled water and stirred the solution. It was still quite thick so I added an additional 200ml of distilled water. Stirred until a nice even consistency.
I then added 60ml of white distilled vinegar and stirred. I placed the flask into a large pot with hot water and stirred occasionally to avoid settling. I left this overnight, stirred again to break up the settled bark.
I checked the pH at this point with pH testing papers but found it difficult to read the results as the color of the bark was exact to pH 3
Then I dissolved 80mg of salt into 400ml of boiling distilled water. Added an additional 400ml to the saline solution. Then added this 800ml saline solution to the acidic soup.
Then I measured out 60g of lye and slowly added this to 300ml of distilled water. I have read the warnings on this forum about adding lye to water and although I was careful I was clearly not careful enough. The lye got extremely angry and started to boil. The lye water turned into a thick grey bubbling soup. (The pot I used to mix the Lye and distilled water had some lime scale from me boiling water previously. I'm wondering if this fueled the violent reaction. I added Lye to distilled water in later steps and the water was clear. Smelly but clear. Did this violent reaction + the lime scale ruin my extraction?) I probably should have thrown this grey mixture out but stupidly added this to my acidic soup. The reaction was so violent that it burnt 3 little holes in my pot and the bottom of the pot feels extremely thin and brittle.
The basic soup went almost black. I stirred this gently being careful not to cause aeration and once again placed in a large pot with hot water. I tested the pH once again but the black solution is the same color as 12.5/13 on the pH papers. I left it for 8+ hours. When I came back I stirred the solution again the break up the settled bark.
I then added 100ml of naphtha. I stirred the solution and waited 30+ minutes for the naphtha to separate. I pipetted out as much of the naphtha as I could without touching the black soup. I placed the naphtha in a mason jar and then repeated the process with 75ml, 75ml, 50ml, 50ml & a final pull of 50ml. 6 pulls in total. Towards the end of this process I noticed orange specs sitting at the top of the basic soup. I was careful not to collect them. Should I have tried to collect these orange specs? Slightly larger than grains of sand.
The naphtha was as clear as it was when I put it into the soup. I never warmed the naphtha before adding to the basic soup. I had left the naphtha in a mason jar to get to room temperature before mixing with basic soup.
I then placed 500ml of distilled water into a 1000ml Erlenmeyer flask. Added 60ml of white distilled vinegar and stirred.
I tested the pH and got it exactly at 3. (much easier to test clear liquid)
I then put all of my pulled naphtha into the 560ml acidic solution and gently rocked and swirled for 15 minutes. In Earth walkers tek it says to pipette or siphon out the naphtha and brown fatty liquid that sits animated in between the two layers and discard.
There was no brown fatty layer. In fact the naphtha was still perfectly clear. I could tell where the acidic water ended and the naphtha began but nothing color wise separated them.
I then dissolved 50g of Lye in 200ml of distilled water. I was EXTREMELY careful this time and had no violent reaction. The Lye calmly dissolved and I was left with crystal clear Lye water.
I added this 200ml Lye water to my 560ml acidic soup. The 760ml solution turned milky white straight away.
Tested the pH with pH testing papers and got a reading of about 13/14
I measured out 400ml of fresh naphtha and placed into a mason jar. I put the mason jar in another pot and added hot water. I let the naphtha jar sit in the hot water for a few minutes and then using a pipette added 100ml of hot naphtha to my 760ml lye solution.
I placed a rubber stopper in the top and turned the bottle end over end, occasionally removing the rubber stopper and letting the pressure escape. The naphtha went a beautiful yellow color and I thought I was on the right track. I let the naphtha fully separate and pipetted out into a new mason jar. I repeated this process using hot fresh naphtha until the 400ml of naphtha was all used and in the new mason jar.
I then left the mason jar open and placed on my window sill with a desk fan blowing across the jar. I could see noticeable ripples in the naphtha. I left the jar for about 6 hours and about half of the naphtha had evaporated. I could see something forming in the bottom of the jar.
After letting half of the naphtha evaporate I put the lid on the jar. Wrapped in cellophane wrap and placed into my freezer. I left the jar for exactly 12 hours. Should I have waited longer? There was a visible layer of what looked like ice or snow globe crystals on the bottom and sides of the jar.
I put a coffee filter into a new mason jar. Pulled my mason jar out of the freezer and quickly unwrapped. Poured the yellow naphtha through the coffee filter into the new mason jar and then turned the ice cold jar upside down on a towel to let any excess naphtha drain. I left it for a few minutes. There was nothing in the coffee filter
I placed the jar on its side with a desk fan blowing directly into it to evaporate any remaining naphtha. I left the fan blowing for about 40 minutes.
I knew the result wasn't going to be good but after about an hour of painstakingly scraping the mason jar I placed my product onto the scale and my heart sank when I saw it register 0.03g
I have kept everything from every step. I should have taken pictures at each stage. I have added additional water to each flask to assist me in pipetting the final amounts of naphtha but a small amount still remains. (I probably added too much water and now the lye / water solution is almost to the top of the flask.)
The Basic soup in 2000ml flask with orange specs. I had to use the flash on my camera to pick up the orange specs. Please ignore the flash in reflection.
The Lye water in 1000ml flask. A small amount of naphtha sits on top with milky specs.
I found it difficult to get at these small amounts of naphtha in both flasks without sucking up the soup / water underneath.
The final product certainly smelled like DMT. I packed a bowl and tried to smoke it but instead of turning to liquid and vaporizing like I'm used to, it turned black and ashy and tasted very much like plastic. There was no trip... not that I was expecting much from 0.03g
The Basic soup in 2000ml flask with orange specs. I had to use the flash on my camera to pick up the orange specs. Please ignore the flash in reflection.
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The Lye water in 1000ml flask. A small amount of naphtha sits on top with milky specs.
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Precip Jar before scraping
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Final result
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Equipment
100g of ACRB
2000ml Erlenmeyer Flask with rubber stopper
1000ml Erlenmeyer Flask with rubber stopper
Distilled Water
Anti-Splash goggles
Nitrile gloves
Dust mask
Serological pipette with pipette filler
Thermometer
4x Mason Jars
Naphtha
Lye
Salt
White Distilled Vinegar