How to Calculate Platen PSI for a Rosin Press?

Reading time - 4 minutes - August 3, 2021

The work of a rosin press is something of beauty. This intelligent and magical monster single handedly has changed the game of weed consumption. Whilst some people smoke their cannabis, others use a dry herb vaporizer, there is also another way… the rosin press. A rosin press is one technique of creating cannabis concentrates; which are intense and strong weed substances with high levels of THC. For those of you experienced weed-enthusiasts out there, you’ll be aware that finding the right pressure for your rosin press is crucial. It could be the difference between being efficient with your cannabis, and wasting it. That’s where platen PSI comes in. No idea what platen PSI is? Well, not to worry, today we’ll be simplifying it for you and letting you know how you can calculate it. Here at Nectar, we’d hate to see you waste any of your beautiful green. Let’s go.

What Is a Rosin Press

Before we look into platen PSI, let’s recap on what the heck this Star Wars-like contraption is. A rosin press is essentially a device that squashes a substance with two metal slabs. Like in A New Hope when they get stuck in the trash compactor, except instead of people, the rosin press squashes good old cannabis buds. It is powered by either hydraulic or pneumatic (which essentially means it is either powered by water or air). The Nectar rosin press is powered by hydraulic. Each has their slight differences, but ultimately, it’s how you use the machine that affects the yield of your marijuana. The best yield equals the best cannabis concentrates.

What are Cannabis Concentrates?

Cannabis concentrates are essentially what you get if you put a stoner and a scientist in a room together. When cannabis is smoked or vaped it doesn’t always harness the most of its pure juices. Instead, there are ways of extracting it with even more efficiency. This extraction causes a substance that is referred to as a cannabis concentrate. There are many cannabis concentrates: rosin, shatter, hash, budder and many more. The rosin press creates rosin, which is a golden, gluey substance. The cannabis bud is squashed down hard in some parchment paper and the substance is created. Heat and pressure creates this beautiful, golden delight. Whilst, on average, cannabis buds contain around 15-20% THC, cannabis concentrates usually contain around 40-80% THC. It’s extreme stuff. Not to be messed with. You can place this golden substance in a joint or in a dry herb vaporizer if it has a concentrate pad, which the Nectar Platinum does. As you can imagine, because this process creates such a pure substance, you wouldn’t want to waste any of it. Thus, the yield and platen PSI is vital. So let’s take a look.

Platen PSI

What is Platen PSI?

Platen PSI is not as complicated as it sounds. It essentially means the amount of pressure you should be putting on your bud depending on the amount of cannabis you have and the weight of your rosin press. Once you know your Platen PSI, you’ll know how much pressure to put on your cannabis. This will affect the yield of your weed. Yield is crucial: a bad yield will mean wasting the bud. This is why using a hair straightener is not always a good idea. The yield of a hair straightener is much much worse than a rosin press. In fact, it’s around 5%, whilst a rosin press is 30%.

How to Work out Platen PSI?

So, how do you work out platen PSI? Well, it’s pretty straight forward. You basically work out the total pressure (in tons) that the rosin press can produce, divided by the square inches of the bag of cannabis bud.

For example, a rosin press has 1.5 tons of pressure. You have to translate this into the amount of lbs. Which is 3000 lbs of pressure. You then divide this into a common bag of weed: let’s say a 3 inches by 6 inches parchment pouch = 18 inches surface area.

3000/18 = 166.6 PSI.

What Do You Do With The PSI Number?

So, now you’ve figured out the platen PSI, what next? The PSI number can be chosen on the rosin press. So once you’ve figured out the original number, the rest is reasonably simple. Remember, the more accurate you make the platen PSI, the better yield you’ll have for your rosin or other cannabis concentrates.

Now you know enough to go do it for yourself. Or, if you don’t have a rosin press, maybe you’re intrigued enough to purchase one. Good luck!

If you want to learn more about how to make shatter or rosin with a rosin press then click here.