Do you think it would work to use a french press coffee maker to press the solvent out of the bark/vinegar/lime mush in q21q21's tek #2? There seems to be a lot of people experiencing excessive and frustrating solvent loss including me..
This seems so stupid it just might work. I would try but I dont have one -gona borrow my friends soon.

I just tried the "wrap mush in a shirt and squeeze solvent/water out" technique. Didnt work -the inside of the mushball was still saturated. Outside was dry though..

Im gona try something suggested by chronic next: create lots of texture (surface area) in a dryish mush, then roll solvent around before pouring it off. This process is repeated a few times -its basically like mixing it without incorporating the solvent into the whole mix mash.

Yeah, just try drying the mixture, but don't make it bone dry. Then even if you mix it in you will lose less naphtha than with mush consistency.

I think the french press might work well with crumbly consistency. You should try it and report back to us. As with the dry consistency I find that with sqeezing by hand it's possible to recover noticeable amount of naphtha.

So the press filter is basically like this:
http://virtuallyamy.file...9/french-press-press.jpg

So I would guess mushy consistency might not work as well. Please try this and report back how it works.

Basically one thing one must notice is that the french press should be sitting in hot water bath, therefore one should have big enough container to put it in.

I've tried it an didn't really do much.
Honestly the best solution to the solvent loss issues is *drumroll* use lots of solvent, plan to. It is reusable anyway!

I tried it on the Jimjam tek but the press doesn't help with solvent absorption. However I still use the french press because I find it convenient to mix, pour, and help with filtering.

eH

by all means do what works, I was just saying the solvent reclaimed w/ press vs not press is not that much different.

That being said I never would have though of doing the extraction in a nice glass and metal french press with this thread, sounds like it would work very well.

Have you noticed that with crumbly consistency the amount of naphtha recovered by squeezing/pressing on the mixture is quite alot?
Therefore I would speculate that this french press would be ideal for squeezing and pouring off naphtha. I'll have to try it...

Incidentally, I think anyone that doesn't use a separatory funnel instead of a baster is really making a mistake and making their lives much harder. Here is an inexpensive funnel that works great. (unfortunately only available in a pack of 2).

http://www.amazon.com/SE...REWCAP-500/dp/B0018Q7GCA

eH