welcome
VisionSeeker wrote:
The naptha container has no real info on it, it is "IOSOL Camp Fuel" from home hardware, wanted to see if anyone could tell him if it was suitable to use
No idea, sorry.. look on the internet for this brand see if you find something. I would keep trying to find some other naphtha if I was you. Go to different hardware/paintshop stores, look on the solvent section, read labels. In the label it should should say aliphatic hydrocarbons, naphtha, hexane or heptane, either of those but nothing else.
VisionSeeker wrote:
Also, the Lye he purchased is also from home hardware and labelled as "Lye Crystals - Free flowing multi-purpose cleaner", again, is this what he wants to be using?
Also dont know, keep looking in other stores until you find something that specifies contents as only lye, NaOH, sodium hydroxide. It should contain nothing else. Search the internet for the brand you found, maybe theres more info.
VisionSeeker wrote:
What amounts should he use with 500g of MHRB? Does he have to test the PH to make sure it is correct? Is the water heated? Any stirring at this point?
ratio recommended is 1g MHRB:1g lye:15ml water. If its your first extraction, dont start with 500g, first do a 100g extraction. pH doesnt have to be exact, use the ratio I just mentioned. Water doesnt need to be heated (it will warm up as lye mixes with water). First add lye to water, stiring. Later add mimosa, stir. Use only strong glass or hdpe container, no cheap plastic no thin glass nothing else.
VisionSeeker wrote:
Again, what amount does he add? What is the stirring procedure? He was thinking of getting a 1 gallon wine jug. He then waits for seperation and can siphon off the top clear layor with a turkey bastor? He can then keep adding naptha to whats left in the jug, stirring, and siphoning off for additional "pulls"?
For 100g mimosa (dont do 500g extraction first time!), use 50ml naphtha pulls. Warm them up before by first heating some water (fire far away from naphtha!) to around 50-60 degrees celcius (which is just when it becomes too hot to touch with hand). Then turn off fire, put the 50ml naphtha in a container, and submerge the bottom of the container in the warm water, leave for a couple of minutes, and then throw the naphtha in the mimosa mix. Dont shake! instead, stir in strong round motions with some stainless steel big spoon or some stick or whatever, making like a whirlpool in the middle. Do this for a couple of minutes, then let it sit to separate the layers for a few minutes. Then repeat the stiring, do this a few times.
Then you have to separate the top layer, and theres many ways to do this. Ive heard that some turkey basters are not good because they dont have the 'suction' to keep the liquid inside, it falls out as you try to pull it out. Also you have to see if material is good (glass or HDPE). Otherwise a pippete is also good, if you can find. In any case, one thing you will notice is that its tough to pull only the top layer without pulling anything of the bottom layer, specially in the last parts. So what one can do is to crudely pull all the top layer and maybe a bit of the mimosa mix together to a thinner tall container. Then clean the pippete/turkey baster, and now in this thin/tall container the two layers will be more distinct, so you can more easily separate now only the top layer to the final freeze precipitation/evaporation container. In this last part, only pull out the naphtha until you can accurately do without risking pulling the bottom layer.. The last little bit, just pour it back into the main container.
Do 5 pulls total.
VisionSeeker wrote:
->Evaporate
Next he takes what he siphoned off and evapourates it somewhat? How much? And then finally puts it in the freezer on the coldest setting overnight. Next he takes it out and filters it through a coffee filter while still cold.
You can try to put in the freezer straight away if you used the quantities mentioned. If nothing comes out, then evaporate half the amount and stick in freezer again. In any case, the thing is that in the freezer the dmt crystals will be mostly stuck to the bottom/side of the container, so you will have to scrape it out first (possible spilling/mess) and then run through coffee filter. Or another option is to just pour the naphtha off (which you can reuse for making more pulls), and then leave the container upside down, but at an angle so that air can come in, with a fan blowing air. This way any remaining naphtha trapped in the crystals will drop off/dry. Then after a few of hours it should be dry and you can scrape the crystals more easily.
VisionSeeker wrote:
->Recrystalization
He should then continue reducing the left over Naptha solution and freezing it to try and get more?
No. This is only if the crystals are dirty after you already have evaped/freeze precipitated them. Then if you are unsatisfied with their quality, you put in a small container, and redissolve them in a minimum amount of warm solvent (30ml per 1g dirty crystals), and if they are dirty a bottom dirty goo layer will remain, so you pull out the naphtha on the top leaving the goo behind, and freeze precipitate them again.
VisionSeeker wrote:
->Wash
Is this step needed? Should he judge it based on the appearance of the final product? He was leaning towards a cold distilled water wash over an ammonia wash. One less thing for him to buy and he heard the ammonia can cause some spice to be lost.
forget ammonia wash. and the wash is anyways not done on the crystals, its done BEFORE the freeze precipitation/evaporation. Its the naphtha that is washed. Just add a tiny tiny pinch of
sodium carbonate to, say, 50ml water. Then put the solvent from the pull in the same container, shake (no problem, emulsions should not form), let separate, and then again pull out the solvent and now you can proceed to freeze precip/evap ... this step is not essential, you can skip it if you want