i was wondering about the effects of moisture in a 'drytek'.
what are the pros/cons of adding a small amount of water to powdered mimosa and calcium hydroxide vs. just adding d-limonene directly to dry powders. is the moisture necessary to convert all alkaloids to fb?

The moisture is necessary for the reaction to occur between the salts and the base. The material can be dried and result in a successful extraction if the reaction has been allowed to go to completion, but if it hasn't, then it's just a hassle to moisten and dry it all over again. What would be the purpose of dying the material? To hasten the absorption of the product into the limonene by increasing surface area? Stirring a paste in limonene seems to work well enough for SWIM.

ok, thanks amor_fati.
so are you saying that the moisture is necessary for conversion to fb, but it does not need to be dried again before adding limonene? how long would you wait for conversion? wouldn't it dry quickly anyway?

SWIM get's his pretty wet, but it holds its form and moisture like dough. He's not sure how well this works without a blender, though. SWIM thinks that as long as the mixture is fairly homogeneous, the reaction should occur almost instantly, then it's just a matter of how well the limonene is brought into contact with the material.

i really like your blender procedure, i just dont have one at the moment. im sure it greatly decreases limonene droplet size, and thus near maximum mix is achieved. how about using heat? would using hot limonene and heating the dough mix increase yields?

SWIM would think that heat may result in a dirtier yield--if not an increased one--though maybe not. It's certainly worth a try.

Now that SWIM thinks about it, all of his nontoxic trials had been treated with heat after adding lime and water, but prior to adding limonene and blending (before he had decided to try it this way). It probably wouldn't make a difference unless after the blending, though, but it's something to note, just in case.

I use one of these:

http://www.resortsupply....ages/photos/KT/whisk.jpg

I have my MHRB/lime "dough" in a large 1000ml pyrex cup, with whatever amount of limonene.

Use the whisk like your trying to start a fire with a stick...only SLOWER, lol. Spin it this way. Spin it that way. Back and forth. Tilt it. Move it around while twisting it.

This works incredibly well. And I even find it enjoyable...aside from the limonene aroma getting to my sinuses.

And you'll notice that the "dough" will gather in a big glob inside the whisk. To remove the "dough" from inside the whisk. Simultaneously spin the whisk while bringing it up out of the limonene, SLOWLY, keeping whatever is in the whisk just below the level of the limonene, so that the limonene moves the "dough" on out....It's really easy. Also, this isn't necessary to do constantly. The "dough" cycles itself through the whisk as you move it around.

I find this work wonderfully, really breaking up all the "dough" and moving the limonene throughout.

Make sure it's a STAINLESS STEEL whisk (don't know if they make aluminum ones?), with a good handle for twisting between the hands. Costs about $7-8 at a grocery store. Putting some sort of grippy tape around the handle makes twisting much easier and more comfortable. I use electrical tape.

thanks for that tip, and i especially like the photo of the wisk
but really, this seems straight forward enough.