Hello, SWIM has ordered some bark and is ready to commence his first extraction! Forgive me if SWIM asks any questions that are painfully obvious to the more experienced. SWIM doesnt want to miss any detail, no matter how small.

SWIM wants a very controlled extraction. Can somebody recommend tools or products that have worked well? What can be used as a good mixing jar? SWIM doesnt want any unwarrented lye explosions! SWIM will be using Nomans Tek. Only distilled water should be used correct?

A couple questions about Nomans Tek

1. The lye.
Is all lye the same?
Is there a specific brand that is accepted as the best?

2. The Naptha
Same question as #1

3. Step 5 of Nomans Tek
After the final agitation, separate the two layers. The naptha (top layer) goes in one of the collection jars, the rest stays in the mixing jar with the bark.

How exactly is this accomplished?
How does one get the mixture into a separatory funnel without agitating the mixture again?
Does the entire mixture go into the funnel?
Does the bottom layer go back into the mixing jar?
It will be very hard to separate it perfectly. Should one stop the funnel before the naptha is reached, or should it be made before the naptha?
What should one do with the remaining contents of the mixing jar?
Is it recommended to have more than one collection jar?
What are the alternatives to a seperatory funnel?

4. Recrystallization
Remove the DMT container and cool in the refrigerator, then the freezer. You will end up with DMT crystals of varying purity atop a pellet of slag which still contains quite a bit of DMT but also lye if you skipped the ammonia wash. Filter the solvent and separate the crystals from the slag. The slag can also be further refined or simply redissolved into the next batch.

After the DMT container is placed in the freezer, does it need a cover?
How do you separate the crystals from the slag?
What do they mean when they say redissolved the slag into the next batch? Doesnt the slag contain all of the lye?

For 50g of bark
50g of bark, 50g of lye, 750ml of water, 50 ml of naptha. How do you separate the mixture? How big does a seperatory funnel have to be to separate it? Can you separate it twice if the funnel is too small? And again, is there another separation method other than using a funnel?

Well that is all of SWIMS questions for now. I know it is quite lengthy, but I do not want my first trip to hyperspace to be sub par dmt! Also, what is a good size for a separatory funnel?

Thanks for all of your help! I am in eternal debt to this community.

EDIT:
Swim saw a bunch of people talking about the PH of their spices. This seems to be an important aspect, where is the PH in nomans tek? Thanks again.

1.SWIM uses home hardware lye, it has no % purity but he has never had a problem
some may say "MUST BE 100%" but SWIM is okay saying "LYE IS LYE IS LYE"

2.SWIM has only used ronsonol, he recently acquired some coleman fuel that evaporates clean and has yet to test it.
But SWIM knows of those two they hold <5mg of spice per 50ml at room temp but >100mg spice per 25ml at >60 celcius

VM&P isn't available in canada but SWIM assumes the same, may be wrong. But heating naptha = much better solubility

3.SWIM uses a simple method, he uses his ghetto DIY milk jug separatory funnel for a rough separation, down to about equal parts naptha and black lye-bark stuff
THEN he puts it into a ZIP LOCK BAG, lets it seperate, cuts a corner and pinches to get EXTREME accuracy. (takes a little bit of practice, to get it perfect)

try it, I guarantee it works great.

4: SWIM prefers letting larger amounts without a cover, so it can evaporate slightly and get more out of it, but small amounts a cover is a MUST (under 50ml)

The crystals generally grow randomly, some right next to the slag, some by themselves, don't expect to get all the whities the first time, but you should be able to get most of them.

I'm not 100% on this, but I think the slag is probably 95+% minimum DMT, with some other plant impurities and maybe <1% lye,

people have been smoking the slaggy stuff before people even realized pure DMT is white, SWIM only finds a taste difference from slag to white.... not experience.


SAW THE EDIT: PH = 14. under 14 tends to get CRAZY EMULSIONS.


Wow, that was long, haha, I don't know why I'm not sleepy.

Cheers.

Use a bottle with a neck that narrows but is wide enough at the bottom. After rolling around and it sits...use a medical oral syringe to pull off the top. Because you use a bottle that narrows it's fairly easy if you calculate your mix so your solvent rests at the top. Toss 'em in the freezer and you're good. Always clean, white. I use ronsol too, works like a charm.

SWIM is by no means an expert on extractions yet but...He does have some advice that he wishes he'd read before starting. All this was posted by others but he can't remember who.

To separate the layers, do as someone suggested, use a medicine syringe or a nasal aspirator. You can buy these dirt cheap at most drug stores
Let your stuff soak overnight before adding naphtha to it, don't just wait the 1 hour that the tek calls for.
Don't combine your pulls into 1 jar, let 50ml naphtha sit in its' own jar in the freezer, or evap the naphtha
2L pickle jars are pretty good for holding the lye stew, buy a new one every so often though...Hope you like pickles
When agitating the pickle jar, use a rag to grip the lid in case any liquid should manage to escape
Use mason jars for the freeze precip. Yea it's a pain to scrape out the spice but you know for sure nothing will get in there.
Make sure the mason jars are 100% air dried before using.

Probably most important, use a mask/gloves. Those fumes will take a tole on you.

I am worried about the lye. I am not going to do the ammonia wash, will recrystalization do the job? Or would you guys recommend using the carbonate water found in vovins tek? How exactly do you remove the dmt from the slag? doesnt the slag contain most of the lye?

Thanks for all the help so far guys! I truly appreciate it.

Also, at what stage should the ph be 14? How do I measure / control this? Does it really matter? If I follow the water to lye ratio in the tek, should it be just about right?

Mask and gloves are essential. I've never had problems with an hour or two. Seperate each pull into it's own jar. When you take them out of the freezer place a coffee filter over a strainer, scrape all the x-tals with a spoon in the jars quickly then pour over the filter into a receiving jar (or a large measuring cup so as to catch spills) to re-use the solvent. Lay the filter on some newspaper, moving it around the paper to ensure the solvent is absorbed into the paper and doesn't dilute your x-tals. Blow on the filter lightly until it's dry then scrape onto a flat glass surface. Let it dry a little there and be sure not to crush the x-tals as they are a little more soft/oily than hard and dump into a vile (place the viles into the freezer when not in use as I've found this to be essential).

The rest is elementary! Good luck my friend you will not be dissapointed.

how the heck do you "seperate each pull into it's own jar." I still do not understand how to do that.

and this is from above

I am worried about the lye. I am not going to do the ammonia wash, will recrystalization do the job? Or would you guys recommend using the carbonate water found in vovins tek? How exactly do you remove the dmt from the slag? doesnt the slag contain most of the lye?

Thanks for all the help so far guys! I truly appreciate it.

Also, at what stage should the ph be 14? How do I measure / control this? Does it really matter? If I follow the water to lye ratio in the tek, should it be just about right?

thanks : )

Ok, you have the water+lye+MHRB SWIM calls it the lye stew as dubbed by someone else. When you mix it all together and let it sit for a while, then you add the naphtha. The naphtha will contain the DMT after agitating it for a while. The naphtha will float to the top fairly quickly and you can then take this up with whatever you have and throw it in the freezer. SWIM is told an airtight glass jar will work great. He likes to wait until the naphtha and the lye stew have a very defined edge. You'll get an eye for this quickly, just make sure any bubbles that form have settled. It should look almost like glass before you pull off the naphtha.

So pull off whatever naphtha you can, then add more and repeat the whole thing.

EDIT: SWIM just follows the tek, he doesn't measure his PH at all.

do you do the ammonia wash or recrystallization? arent u worried about lye?

If you're careful to make sure you get no water in your solvent before you freeze/evap then the lye shouldn't get in there.

That said though, Lye vaporizes at a much higher temp than DMT so it's not really an issue.

So lets say you do 100grams powdered bark, 2000mL of distilled water and 100g's of lye, you go through the procedure and add your 100ml of ronsonol lighterfluid naptha. you mix that around and let it seperate to the top.

If your worried about the lye just be very careful when extracting the top layer of naptha off, to not suck up any of the black lye water stew. its alright if you leave a bit of naptha behind just to be safe.

for each 100ml extraction, i put each one into a separate glass jar when i extract the naptha, than put this into a very cold freezer. Free precipitation will also give you a purer product, mine came out without any yellow fatness or impurities and i did a straight to base extraction. Just do it slow and take your time!

edit- yes if you follow the water/bark/lye ratio you don't really need to check the pH, i add a extra couple grams of lye anyways.

Put each pull into a glass jar - I use anything from Olive jars or some type of smaller similar jar. Toss them into the freezer and check them out the next day.

Not really, just smoke it through a water bong and there's no real issue. SWIM can't speak for your product however, it might end up yellow or white he can't say for sure. However, he followed Noman's tek to the dot, using ronsonol lighter fluid and his crystals are pure white, even on the first extraction attempt.

One time swim did use a pipe instead of a bong and it was smooth but slightly harsh. He wouldn't recommend it, stick with a bong. It's cleaner, and alot smoother to inhale. Just make sure you use the leafbed method or ash. For leafbed, just buy some fresh parsley at a grocery store. Wash it, then put in the microwave for 30 second intervals. Flip it over each time, and nuke it until it's dry like pot. You probably won't even notice the difference in taste, for SWIM, the parsley is more harsh than the DMT lol. Take out any stem pieces before smoking.

Ok thanks for all the help. This is what I got so far, please point out any wrong things.

1. Mix the lye and the water.
2. Add the bark.
3. Shake the jar vigorously and let it sit for 2 hours.
4. Add warmed up naptha.
5. Gently turn the jar end over end and let it separate.
6. Do this 4 times in total.
7. Separate the two layers. The naptha will be on the top.
8. Use a turkey baster and suck out the top layer. Place the top layer into a glass jar with a lid.
9. Do step 4 - 8 three more times.

This is where I start to get confused.

10. Pour each jar of naptha out through a coffee filter. Save the naptha, which can be reused in the next batch or evaporated down producing a residue which can be further refined (see recrystallization below). A lot of paste will stick to the sides of the jar, so use a small rubber spatula to scrape the sides down onto the filter as well. Spread each filter out to dry.

At this stage, is the dmt smokable? Also at this stage, doesnt the dmt still contain lye and naptha?

How would I further refine this without doing the ammnonia wash? I also have a few questions about recrystallization if I decide to do it.

From Nomans Tek

1. Place a glass container with the DMT and a glass container of the recrystallization solvent together in a pan of hot water.
2. Add the hot solvent little by little (eye-dropper), agitating until all of the DMT is dissolved.
3. Leave the pan of water with the DMT container to cool to room temperature.
4. Remove the DMT container and cool in the refrigerator, then the freezer. You will end up with DMT crystals of varying purity atop a pellet of slag which still contains quite a bit of DMT but also lye if you skipped the ammonia wash.
5. Filter the solvent and separate the crystals from the slag.
6. The slag can also be further refined or simply redissolved into the next batch.

Ok. In step 4, when you put the solvent into the freezer, should you cover the container with anything?
In Step 5, when he says filter the solvent, he means pour the entire thing through a coffee filter correct?
Also, how do you separate the crystals from the slag?
What does he mean by "the slag can be futher refined or simply redissolved into the next batch?"
Doesnt the slag contain most of the stuff that we dont want? Also, after filtration, doesnt the dmt still contain naptha?

Scrape the jar as soon as you take it out of the freezer so it's all swimming around (I use a spoon to scrape everything thouroughly). Then pour it through the filter(s). Once it dries on the filters scrape them onto a flat glass surface and you're good to go. Unless it's dirty I wouldn't worry about re-x-talizing. If it's white it's good.

If you notice some still in the empty jar just pour back some solvent to swish around and pour through another filter. I've never really had pasty substances nor have I heated or warmed the solvent. Always get back exactly what the tek states. Just be sure to turn your mix around three times before pulling. If you miss one you'll notice.

It shouldn't contain lye. If you pull the naphtha layer off without getting any brown junk in it then you should be fine. Don't get your hopes up with the turkey baster thing, it's actually very hard to get naphtha off for some reason. Bad seal? dunno.

Here's what SWIM does for step 10. After the freeze precip, there's always crystals stuck to the bottom of his jar. Put a coffee filter on top of another jar and filter the whole thing through, saving the naphtha for later use. Usually the coffee filter won't have any crystals on it, but it might. SWIM then caps the jar with DMT stuck to the bottom, turns it upside down and puts it back in the freezer for a few hours. Naphtha drains away from the crystals, then you open the jar upside down into a filter and try to drain as much liquid as possible without disturbing the crystals. Set the jar with DMT on a window ledge and let it evap for a few hours. For whatever reason, he finds it much easier to scape out crystals when they are mostly dry. The crystals might be a bit wet but you scrape it out, and spread it out until it's dry. Wait until the smell of naphtha fades then try scrapping.

SWIM dislikes scrapping out the dmt right after filtering the naphtha. It makes a sort of paste that sticks to the jar, he believes it's actually redissolving the DMT! Then your jar has a ton of paste spread around and you can't get it off, so have to re precipitate with more naphtha yadayadayada. If you scrape the crystals off when they are JUST about dry, they tend to stick together nicely and they stick to the knife in clumps. Much easier to get out. SWIM just recently re precipitated his dmt from his earlier extraction. He had three jars with this annoying paste stuck to it, he used naphtha to redissolved the paste and combine it into one jar. After scarping this final jar, he came up with another 60mg of spice! Just from paste stuck to the jar, after trying to scrape it out while pouring into the filter.

SWIM doesn't know anything about washing the spice. Try searching for sodium carbonate wash and you might find what your looking for. But really, if the stuff comes out white just smoke it in a bong and it works fine...SWIM is still alive and it's pretty smooth smoking. If you were doing this stuff every day then you might want to wash it, in SWIM's opinion.

Yes, make sure you have an air tight container of some sort. Mason jars are cheap and work wonderful. Make sure they are 100% air dry before using them.

I believe so, you mean step 5 of your process, or step 9 or noman's tek? Anyway, yes, pour it all through a filter but try to leave the crystals in the jar.

Not sure, he never ends up with "slag". Maybe he means this "paste" that sticks to the jar? Dunno.

Yes, that's why you have to let it evaporate. Wait until the smell of lighter fluid is gone, or mostly gone. The DMT will still smell funny, but not as powerful as lighter fluid hopefully.

SWIM wouldn't bother heating the naphtha. It's personal choice, but he gets fine results with room temperature naphtha. He is also told it pulls out more junk, so maybe the extra "DMT" that is pulled is mostly dead weight. Don't rely on SWIMs advice here though, he has never tried.

EDIT: Ok, SWIM is probably looking at a different version of Noman's tek:
https://wiki.dmt-nexus.me/Noman%27s_tek

thank you so much jacetea and onthepath

I have a question for you jacetea, how do you usually separate the naptha from the basified liquid?

Thanks again!

also, where do you get your mason jars?

Mason jars, try a large grocery store and ask for "canning jars" or "mason jars" or "pickling jars". They should know what you mean, pretend your making jam or something. You can usually get them from hardware stores too, try to find those "variety" type hardware stores. I believe I paid around $7 for 12 of them, maybe more. Look for the smaller ones if you can, you only need to put about 50ml of liquid into them...Depending on how big of an extraction you are working with.

SWIM now uses a medical syringe, the type you use to feed a baby medicine. He started out with a turkey baster but it just doesn't seem the hold naphtha very well. Works alright with water, but won't hold in naphtha. You can get these syringes at any drug store....Pretend you have a baby, or maybe you already do. They're dirt cheap.