I bought my NugSmasher Mini 2 Ton Press a few months ago and have been using it here and there testing it out. I wanted to share my thoughts on it and do a review for all the fine people here on AFN. Full disclosure I have made BHO with a vacuum purge setup for years prior to buying this so I'm not new to extracts.
I picked this up on the 4th of July sale so I got it for a decent price with free shipping. Other than the press, power cord, and the handle you only get some stickers on the box. It's a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be but definitely heavy!
My first impressions were it is very well built and will hold up to a lot of use. Everything is very intuitive to use on it. They have a number of videos on their YouTube channel that give a ton of good recommendations on the best way to use it. After a few months using it here is my current setup
Aside from the press there are a few other things you will need and a few that you don't but will help.
- 120 Micron 3.5g NugSmasher bags. I've used almost all of these and only had one blowout
- Parchment paper, I used Reynolds originally but I like the raw paper. Need scissors as well for it for clean cuts.
- Magnets, they help hold the paper where you need them while pressing
- Magnetic digital stop watch, keeps track of your press time
- Rosineer 3.5g Pre-Press, makes smashing so much easier I'll explain more below
Initially I used the bottletech method that is widely used but I found that it gave me inconsistent results and I was constantly messing with it to get it right. I decided to get a Rosineer 3.5g pre-press and I'm so glad I did. Not only did it make my smashes more consistent but it also made the entire process easier and improved my yeilds. Plus as and added benefit I get 24 bags out of the 12 pack since I cut them in half so the press will pay for itself in no time. I use the chottle technique for those that know. I'll explain how I do it so I can review both the press and pre-press
First turn on the press so it can heat up. I press at 213 because I want it to be a bit more shatter like. Lower temps will leave it lighter in color but it may butter or crumble up on you more. Anything from 190-220 should be fine. NS recommends 190-210 range.
While that's heating up cut the bags in half and then cut the bottom off so you have two tubes
Next we have to get our pre-pressed puck ready. For this run I will be using 4.44g of some Fog Dog trim I have that's been curing the past few weeks. Pack it into your pre-press and smash that sucker on the table with all your might. Some people use rubber mallets. I found hand pressing it works for me, just get it pretty tight.
Once you have it pressed together push it out of the mold, should look like this and hold together well and not break apart at all.
Next put it in one of your bags sideways and get it centered.
This is the one tricky part. I put my fingers in the middle of the puck and slide the bag around while holding onto the puck to center it. First time doing it will be a bit awkward but it's pretty easy and I picked up on it quickly.
Once it's in there correctly slide it to one end, leave a slight lip of the bag as an overlap. Trim the excess off the other end and leave a little extra lip there as well. Final result should look like this! A nice tightly packed puck wrapped in your press tube ready for smashing.
The press should be up to temp now so you should be ready to rock! I start my smash slowly since the one time I did it fast was my blowout. Also you want to make sure it stays in the middle of the plates . So slowly compress everything and once you feel it bottom out give it another good press and start your timer. The amount of pressure is going to be the learning curve with this device since it doesn't have a pressure meter.
You should start to see some rosin flowing. I usually will keep upping the pressure over the first minute to make sure it's really smashed.
Should only take about 90-120 seconds.
After the 90-120 seconds twist open your release and open up the paper.
Carefully remove the puck and throw it in a zip lock for later! (they're great for edibles)
Next throw your parchment in the freezer or use a cold plate to collect it all. Trying out the Dragon Crusher jars @NAGreengo did a review on today.
Final weight = 0.71g or 16% yeild. Not bad for trim at all, usually get closer to .85g with nice flower.
Final look, some great solventless rosin! This stuff will melt your face off. And it only takes me about 20-30 mins start to finish.
If anyone is in the market for a smaller press I highly recommend the Nug Smasher Mini 2 Ton Press. The device is of high quality and is built very well. They even have a trade in program if you want to upgrade. I've seen sales where they take 100% of your original price on the trade in so you could essentially upgrade for the difference of the new unit. The videos they put out are very informative and they have excellent support. Did I mention they are made in the US as well? If you're on the market for one you can't go wrong with the NS Mini.
If you do grab a press I would also recommend picking up a Rosineer Pre-Press, it's very high quality stainless steel and I've used it dozens of times already without having to clean it out. Very nice quality tool that I feel is a necessity and pays for itself in the amount of bag savings alone. Definitely check them both out!
I picked this up on the 4th of July sale so I got it for a decent price with free shipping. Other than the press, power cord, and the handle you only get some stickers on the box. It's a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be but definitely heavy!
My first impressions were it is very well built and will hold up to a lot of use. Everything is very intuitive to use on it. They have a number of videos on their YouTube channel that give a ton of good recommendations on the best way to use it. After a few months using it here is my current setup
Aside from the press there are a few other things you will need and a few that you don't but will help.
- 120 Micron 3.5g NugSmasher bags. I've used almost all of these and only had one blowout
- Parchment paper, I used Reynolds originally but I like the raw paper. Need scissors as well for it for clean cuts.
- Magnets, they help hold the paper where you need them while pressing
- Magnetic digital stop watch, keeps track of your press time
- Rosineer 3.5g Pre-Press, makes smashing so much easier I'll explain more below
Initially I used the bottletech method that is widely used but I found that it gave me inconsistent results and I was constantly messing with it to get it right. I decided to get a Rosineer 3.5g pre-press and I'm so glad I did. Not only did it make my smashes more consistent but it also made the entire process easier and improved my yeilds. Plus as and added benefit I get 24 bags out of the 12 pack since I cut them in half so the press will pay for itself in no time. I use the chottle technique for those that know. I'll explain how I do it so I can review both the press and pre-press
First turn on the press so it can heat up. I press at 213 because I want it to be a bit more shatter like. Lower temps will leave it lighter in color but it may butter or crumble up on you more. Anything from 190-220 should be fine. NS recommends 190-210 range.
While that's heating up cut the bags in half and then cut the bottom off so you have two tubes
Next we have to get our pre-pressed puck ready. For this run I will be using 4.44g of some Fog Dog trim I have that's been curing the past few weeks. Pack it into your pre-press and smash that sucker on the table with all your might. Some people use rubber mallets. I found hand pressing it works for me, just get it pretty tight.
Once you have it pressed together push it out of the mold, should look like this and hold together well and not break apart at all.
Next put it in one of your bags sideways and get it centered.
This is the one tricky part. I put my fingers in the middle of the puck and slide the bag around while holding onto the puck to center it. First time doing it will be a bit awkward but it's pretty easy and I picked up on it quickly.
Once it's in there correctly slide it to one end, leave a slight lip of the bag as an overlap. Trim the excess off the other end and leave a little extra lip there as well. Final result should look like this! A nice tightly packed puck wrapped in your press tube ready for smashing.
The press should be up to temp now so you should be ready to rock! I start my smash slowly since the one time I did it fast was my blowout. Also you want to make sure it stays in the middle of the plates . So slowly compress everything and once you feel it bottom out give it another good press and start your timer. The amount of pressure is going to be the learning curve with this device since it doesn't have a pressure meter.
You should start to see some rosin flowing. I usually will keep upping the pressure over the first minute to make sure it's really smashed.
Should only take about 90-120 seconds.
After the 90-120 seconds twist open your release and open up the paper.
Carefully remove the puck and throw it in a zip lock for later! (they're great for edibles)
Next throw your parchment in the freezer or use a cold plate to collect it all. Trying out the Dragon Crusher jars @NAGreengo did a review on today.
Final weight = 0.71g or 16% yeild. Not bad for trim at all, usually get closer to .85g with nice flower.
Final look, some great solventless rosin! This stuff will melt your face off. And it only takes me about 20-30 mins start to finish.
If anyone is in the market for a smaller press I highly recommend the Nug Smasher Mini 2 Ton Press. The device is of high quality and is built very well. They even have a trade in program if you want to upgrade. I've seen sales where they take 100% of your original price on the trade in so you could essentially upgrade for the difference of the new unit. The videos they put out are very informative and they have excellent support. Did I mention they are made in the US as well? If you're on the market for one you can't go wrong with the NS Mini.
If you do grab a press I would also recommend picking up a Rosineer Pre-Press, it's very high quality stainless steel and I've used it dozens of times already without having to clean it out. Very nice quality tool that I feel is a necessity and pays for itself in the amount of bag savings alone. Definitely check them both out!
