Cannabis Alchemy: Art of Modern Hashmaking (Paperback)

~ Gold (Author) "If marijuana is to be used as a starting material, the seeds are removed prior to extraction..." (more)
Key Phrases: pure cannabidiol, soxhlet chamber, cannabis material, Roger Adams (more...)

Product Details

• Paperback: 109 pages
• Publisher: Ronin Publishing; Rep Sub edition (March 8, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0914171402
• ISBN-13: 978-0914171409
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #302,048 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AAN EXCELLENT WEALTH OF INFORMATION, BUT......, December 24, 2000

By A Customer

This book deals with the process of turning regular everyday herb into both hash oil and hashish. It is very detailed and practical. As such it is geared only to those interested in undertaking such a process. The process Gold describes in it DOES WORK and the potency increaces between 6 times (for pure crude extract) and 32 times (for acetated and isomerized extract) are in the opinion of this author accurate.

As helpful as this book is however, it is incomplete without its compendium: Dr. ATomic's Marijuana Multiplier.The reason for this is that unless the reader is a chemist, Canabis Alchemy is very difficult to follow. Even thought the diagrams in it are well illustrated, understanding some of the simple alchemy reactions described in them is very difficult to the lay person - if not impossible.This is where Dr. Atomic's Marijuana Multiplier comes in. It is akin to an Idiots Guide to Canabis Alchemy. Its chapter layout is almost identical to Canabis ALchemy. Best of all, it's written in a cartioonish fashion with words that the reader can easily follow (instead of chemical symbols). It even describes how to make the edible fomrs of hash that really work!

As mentioned above, when read together the process mentioned in both books works and a reader (with basic HS education) can figure out how to go about the 28 hour alchemy / isomerization process to obtain very potent oil / hash with a potency of about 6 to 12 times stronger on the Adams scale than regular everyday Mary Jane! As simple as the process is however, it is unlikely that a non-chemist could make the very high acetate rotaional herb oil (13 to 32 times more potent) that Gold explains in his book. This is because this final step involves an artificial atmosphere to be created behind a blast proof plexi glass cage. I would not recommend this to anyone who does not have a ton of experience in chemistry labs.

Finally, the process described in both books results in a yeild (by vloume) of between 25%-30% of extracted THC / pulp canabidiol from regular Mary Jane. In other words, 10 grams of herb would give you between 2.5 and 3 grams of consumable decadence. As for the supplies needed, almost all the ones mentioned in both books can be acquired pretty easily. The only drawback is that the entire process is VERY labor intensive. For some really incredible smoke expect about 30 hours of pretty well continous work. The benefits are the increase in potency, the far less toxins ingested and some incredible bragging right :)

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Growers and Medical Users take notice:, October 13, 1998

By A Customer

This book tells you how to concentrate active ingredients from Cannabis, and how to modify them to improve their potency.

The instructions given are distilled from technical writings, which are cited. These technical journals may be hard to come by, since the articles are often old (but valid).

D. Gold tells you exactly how to prepare Cannabis extracts and preparations using readily available kitchen pots and pans and a few chemistry set novelties. He also describes a larger set-up utilizing a 55 gallon drum.

I myself have never gotten around to trying the techniques described in the book because I smoke a small quantity of good Cannabis that I pay a high price for. Smoking unrefined Cannabis is good enough for me. I would have to make modest investments to implement Gold's methods. I can spend that on Cannabis instead.

I think Gold's methods would be great for someone who has access to large quantities of Cannabis at a low price. I have never understood why people smuggle low quality Cannabis across international borders. Bootleggers distilled their fermented corn mash into a potent form before loading it into the trunks of their cars. I think the penalties for bunk weed aren't much different than those for hash oil, so it seems irrational to smuggle garbage.

I think this book would be good for Cannabis cultivators who have a lot of low potency leaves to dispose of. Perhaps they could convert these into high quality products. They should experiment at small scale to see if it justifies the costs. Heating fuel is expended, some solvents may not be fully recycled. Yield efficiency may be below 100%.

I think this information would also be useful for people seeking information on medical marijuana. Perhaps a person with a serious need for purified Cannabis extracts would be willing to go to the trouble of preparing extracts.

Of course, nothing in the book or in this review should be construed as encouraging you to do anything illegal. Perhaps you should consider moving to Antarctica or the Netherlands if you find D. Gold's methods interesting.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Forget about acetate extraction!, August 11, 2003

By	Grass (California) - See all my reviews

Even though this book is somewhat good it certainly does not increase potency. In Chapter 1 alone the author is telling the grower to preheat cannabis in an oven so it crumbles easier. This only destroys some of the much need cannabinoids that you want. Just dry your harvest in a dark room away from any light and you will be able to crumble up your cannabis is no time. Then following this the author starts to describe how cannabis should be pounded into powder. Sorry but this book is supposed to be about high quality cannabinoid extraction and it does not really serve anybody with this kind of interest... but it will tell you have to extract THC from cannabis... or at least some of it!

What the author neglects to tell you is that it is very important to begin with the right genetics. If you have a plant that produces below average potent buds then no matter what you do you will only end up with average potent cannabis oil. This book is alright I supposed because it will get you there but I highly recommend The Cannabis Grow Bible by Greg Green for better information on cannabis oil extraction using butane (a very simple and safe process) or by water extraction to produce full melt hashish. The acetate extraction method described in this book is now somewhat obsolete. I just use the acetate process in cleaning out my butane extraction instruments for oil residue. The full melt water extraction technique is the way to go though. That is the true extraction method of the pros.