I wasn't sure where to put this thread. After making my first cart from some store bought concentrate, I will definitely be making many more! I know my successes but especially my failures will help others.
If this is the wrong spot for this thread admins...well you know... do your thing and stuff.
A serious shout out to @PeakSupplyCo for being one of our site sponsors and for having an amazing sale recently! Picked up a few things last week to give a try. Well...I'm sold after this first cart. I just placed another order during their Halloween Sale!
For this cart, I used the Peak Supply XL G.A.S. Cartridge, a touch of Gelato terpenes, and another touch of the Viscosity Booster
Cool little gadget to hook up my pen to a bong. Also, a pic of the cart and oil.
I started with a local "premium" concentrate that I can get consistently for $20-25 per gram. End goal of course is to make it from my own home grown pressed rosin. GSC presses and vape carts will most definitely be coming up soon!
My First DIY Vape Cart Recipe:
I used the glass container the rosin came in for the heating and prep process.
I used a hot plate to heat up the concentrate and started stirring slowly when it began to melt. I stopped stirring a few times until it was just about to bubble, then remove from the heat, and keep stirring while it cooled. I was doing my best to keep the temps below 190°. I used an infrared thermometer to watch it and had to do a few pulls off and on the hot plate to keep it close.
When I got a good runny viscosity, I added a couple drops of the booster and 3 of the Gelato. I turned off my hot plate and I stirred continually while the hot plate cooled down. At least 3-5 minutes is what I did. As soon as I had a good mixture (got impatient and wrists were hurting), I used a glass pipette to fill the cartridge.
After it was filled, I left it wick side down to settle for about 10 minutes. Then I screwed on the mouthpiece. I let it sit in my DIY cart filler/holder thingy overnight to soak into the wick. The next morning I turned it over and left it that way all day. Did that a few times over the next couple days. All done and ready to use!
Along the way, I did a few taste tests of course!! Every day, the flavor melded together more and more. In total, I left the cart to settle for 3.5 days. It tasted better than most cartridges I have purchased. It also got me properly baked right out of the gate! Stronger than the other carts I have.
Could it be the added terpenes and entourage affect?!?
It rivaled the terpene profile of the Gelato Stizzy pod. Leftcoast Extracts makes very good carts/pods too with strong terpene profiles. I would put this cart up against theirs for taste tests. Not exaggerating. I decided to add a little bit of Gelato because I felt that I was burning off terps during the warming and stirring process. I should have just added the terps and left out the booster. After a few days, the oil is just slightly more runny than I would prefer. I have been puffing on it several times a day for the past few days and it's still going strong. No clogs and no issues. Strong deep rips without a problem from the cartridge too. Plenty of airflow to really get that coil heated up. Full of flavor and intensity. I was able to preserve some of that sweet and peppery aroma from the Death Star Cherry Pie I think. The added Gelato
kept some sweetness and added the pungent ending tones to the puff.
I will be making many more cart recipes and I will document them along the way. I believe it would benefit us all.
Any questions, please ask. I'm new to this but will help as best as I can. If you have wisdom to share, please do so. The more we share, the better we become.
I would recommend not doing what I did and just get their Alchemy Starter Kit. It has samples of all the products you would need to make some carts. I spent more than necessary to test my theory of making my own premium carts. Should have just got the kit.
The hot plate magnetic stirrer I used was much too inconsistent. The return process has already been started!
Anyway...I personally think a magnetic stirrer is NOT a needed piece of equipment. If making large batches, then I would say it would be a convenient addition. Otherwise, I think your best bet would be to get the DapPress Sauce Plate. It has a MUCH better temp controller. The only thing it doesn't do is stir for you. It gives you the added bonus of making some THC Diamonds too!
I hope this thread picks up momentum amongst everyone with experience making carts and those of us that want to learn more!
BLESSINGS!
If this is the wrong spot for this thread admins...well you know... do your thing and stuff.
A serious shout out to @PeakSupplyCo for being one of our site sponsors and for having an amazing sale recently! Picked up a few things last week to give a try. Well...I'm sold after this first cart. I just placed another order during their Halloween Sale!
For this cart, I used the Peak Supply XL G.A.S. Cartridge, a touch of Gelato terpenes, and another touch of the Viscosity Booster
Cool little gadget to hook up my pen to a bong. Also, a pic of the cart and oil.
I started with a local "premium" concentrate that I can get consistently for $20-25 per gram. End goal of course is to make it from my own home grown pressed rosin. GSC presses and vape carts will most definitely be coming up soon!
My First DIY Vape Cart Recipe:
I used the glass container the rosin came in for the heating and prep process.
I used a hot plate to heat up the concentrate and started stirring slowly when it began to melt. I stopped stirring a few times until it was just about to bubble, then remove from the heat, and keep stirring while it cooled. I was doing my best to keep the temps below 190°. I used an infrared thermometer to watch it and had to do a few pulls off and on the hot plate to keep it close.
When I got a good runny viscosity, I added a couple drops of the booster and 3 of the Gelato. I turned off my hot plate and I stirred continually while the hot plate cooled down. At least 3-5 minutes is what I did. As soon as I had a good mixture (got impatient and wrists were hurting), I used a glass pipette to fill the cartridge.
After it was filled, I left it wick side down to settle for about 10 minutes. Then I screwed on the mouthpiece. I let it sit in my DIY cart filler/holder thingy overnight to soak into the wick. The next morning I turned it over and left it that way all day. Did that a few times over the next couple days. All done and ready to use!
Along the way, I did a few taste tests of course!! Every day, the flavor melded together more and more. In total, I left the cart to settle for 3.5 days. It tasted better than most cartridges I have purchased. It also got me properly baked right out of the gate! Stronger than the other carts I have.
Could it be the added terpenes and entourage affect?!?
It rivaled the terpene profile of the Gelato Stizzy pod. Leftcoast Extracts makes very good carts/pods too with strong terpene profiles. I would put this cart up against theirs for taste tests. Not exaggerating. I decided to add a little bit of Gelato because I felt that I was burning off terps during the warming and stirring process. I should have just added the terps and left out the booster. After a few days, the oil is just slightly more runny than I would prefer. I have been puffing on it several times a day for the past few days and it's still going strong. No clogs and no issues. Strong deep rips without a problem from the cartridge too. Plenty of airflow to really get that coil heated up. Full of flavor and intensity. I was able to preserve some of that sweet and peppery aroma from the Death Star Cherry Pie I think. The added Gelato
kept some sweetness and added the pungent ending tones to the puff.
I will be making many more cart recipes and I will document them along the way. I believe it would benefit us all.
Any questions, please ask. I'm new to this but will help as best as I can. If you have wisdom to share, please do so. The more we share, the better we become.
I would recommend not doing what I did and just get their Alchemy Starter Kit. It has samples of all the products you would need to make some carts. I spent more than necessary to test my theory of making my own premium carts. Should have just got the kit.
The hot plate magnetic stirrer I used was much too inconsistent. The return process has already been started!
Anyway...I personally think a magnetic stirrer is NOT a needed piece of equipment. If making large batches, then I would say it would be a convenient addition. Otherwise, I think your best bet would be to get the DapPress Sauce Plate. It has a MUCH better temp controller. The only thing it doesn't do is stir for you. It gives you the added bonus of making some THC Diamonds too!
I hope this thread picks up momentum amongst everyone with experience making carts and those of us that want to learn more!
BLESSINGS!
, 
, and 
Baked!
So I've done the "hot" plate method too and that indeed helps. I prefer not to get anywhere near decarb temps though. The act of the vaporization will do that for me. If I decarb before, then I'm potentially losing the THC potency. That's my understanding of it anyway. When I use the hot plate, it is meant to remove air bubbles primarily which can cause unnecessary oxidation and can harden the rosin more than it should. It dissolves out the remaining fats & lipids too if I remember correctly. Another key component to minimize the need for viscosity boosters is an approach I wanted to try. Specifically because Shed wanted to have a rosin only cart. Without all the fancy lab grade equipment and processes to accomplish that of course.
