Difference between revisions of "Vovin's tek"

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This page is a transcription of Vovin's Tek[1]. The content is to remain accurate as such.

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Almost all of the teks I have found were either old and not up to date, or horribly complicated and thus difficult for the first timer to understand, at least they were for me. Also I have learned that a picture is worth a thousand words and this tek has plenty so I think it will be much easier to follow if you know what the materials look like at each stage of the process.

In this guide I will be showing a complete concise way to extract DMT from Mimosa Hostilis Root bark. I will not be going over different materials or methods that can be used, there are plenty of resources already on that.

It is my will to keep this as a very simple step by step process and eliminate any confusion along the way. I will not be going over the scientific and chemical explanations of the extraction process. This can get a little confusing and is not really needed to do a extraction. This is a very detailed guide and most of the information that has been added here is from experiments and processes that others have refined over the past few years. To make things easier I have labeled the 4 Pyrex containers A,B,C, +D. I recommend you do the same to eliminate and confusion you may have while trying to follow along.

This is the material needed to do a top notch extraction of DMT. Although it is possible to improvise a lot. Do so at your own risk.

The chemicals I use on this Tek has been researched by many in DMT world and has been found to produce the best results and are obtainable by the average joe. You can use other chemicals in place of many of these. For the sake of simplicity I will not go into this in this Tek. The chemicals that I have listed are purported to give the best results, I highly recommend you stick to them if you can. Many chemicals leave residue. The ones I use in this Tek leave little to no residue.

Materials, References, and Suppliers

I recommend keeping a detailed log of your process including amounts of liquids and pH balances. This will make it much easier to troubleshoot the process if something goes wrong. Also keep all of the liquids and materials stored until after you have completed the extraction. If you have made a mistake it is possible in certain circumstances to go back to these materials and redo a process to get the DMT out.

Step 1: Breaking Down the Root

It is absolutely essential that you break down the root to as fine material as possible. The result of this process will directly affect the amount of DMT you will extract.

One of the best ways I have found to break down the root is to cut it into small pieces with a pair of scissors. Then freeze the root for 4 hours in a freezer. This makes the root very hard and brittle. Place the root into a blender. I highly recommend a glass blender instead of a plastic. The coarseness of the root will scar the plastic blender a great deal and you will have a small amount of very fine plastic in your bark.

Once you have sufficiently powdered your bark you will end up with 2 materials. One the powder, the second will be a tuft of very fine fibers. Don't handle or disturb the material any more than you have to. The powder gets into the air easily thus reducing the material. You will be using the powder and the fibrous material in your extractions.

Photo 1 & 2: Mimosa as it was shipped to me. AA battery has been placed in the image to give a sense of size.

Photo 3: Mimosa before it was put into the blender notice that I have cut it into small pieces to make it easier for the blender to handle.

Photo 4: After several minutes in the blender. Notice that there is powder and fiber. This is normal.

Step 2: Extraction

In this next step you will be removing the DMT molecule from the bark. To do this you will create a acidic solution and add it to the root bark. It is very important that you do not overheat the bark material. Heat will break down the DMT and cause a loss in yield.

First place around 600 ml of distilled water in a glass or stainless steel cooker (NO ALUMINUM). Once the water has begun to simmer place a couple drops of hydrochloric acid into the pot. It only takes a few drops to get the pH down to 4. Don't overdo it.

Check the pH. If it is too high then add more acid. If it is too low add more water. Your goal is to have a solution with pH 4. If you allow the water to simmer for a long period of time recheck the pH level before adding it to the root bark.

Place the ground up mimosa from step 1 into jar A. Slowly add the acidified water solution to Jar A using a turkey baster. You want it to be enough water to completely cover the bark material but you don't want too much water because it will make later steps more difficult. You probably won't use all 600 ml. I used about 300 ml for each extraction. But it's good to have the extra water on hand just in case.

Shake the contents vigorously and allow this material to soak for 45 minutes. Occasionally stir the material. While it is soaking make another batch of acidified water the same way as mentioned before. Have it warm and ready to use. To keep the first flask, Jar A, warm use a second pot to boil up some regular water. Place the flask into the pot. This is called a heat bath. It will keep a constant warm temperature for a long while. You may need to reheat the water after a while. Don't place the heat bath on the stove with the Jar A still inside - remove it and reheat the water then place it back into the bath.

After 45 minutes strain the material in Jar A into Jar D (Jar D is the jar attached to the Buchner Filter). Place a filter cloth in the Buchner filter head and use the hand pump to cause a vacuum in the jar. This will force the liquid down into the jar and the plant material will be caught in the filter. Try to make sure you get as much of the liquid out of the bark as possible. Once the bark has been strained sufficiently place it immediately into Jar B. Add the newly acidified water to jar B. Allow jar B to soak for 45 minutes.

As Jar B soaks prepare a third batch of acidified water same as above. Once Jar B has soaked for 45 minutes place the contents of it on the filter of Jar D and filter the liquid out. Place the bar material in Jar C and add the newly acidified water to is same as you have done before. Allow it to soak for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes use the Buchner filter set up on Jar D to filter the contents of Jar C. The resulting liquid for all 3 extractions can now be added into one jar so place them all into jar C. Now to make sure we got rid of all of the plant material we are going to place a round filter in the Buchner filter (D) and filter this liquid again. The result will be your bark solution. Slowly pour the contents of Jar C into the head of the filter. Do not put a lot of the liquid into the funnel at once. You will most likely need to swap filters several times as the pores of the filter becomes clogged with sediment. Once you are done filtering place the liquid back into Jar C.

Photo 1:The powder is placed into the first flask.

Photo 2: Once the Distilled water is heated and adjusted to a pH of 4 we add just enough of it to cover the bark material in the flask.

Photo 3: The flask is then placed in a pot of hot water. This will keep it warm For the duration of the soak. Notice I have placed a piece of cling wrap on the top of the flask. This ensures no water will evaporate and will prevent accidental spilling. I have poked a small hole in the wrap to allow ventilation. Remove the flask every few minutes and shake. The stove is not on when I have the flask in the pot. I remove the flask and reheat the water in the pot when it cools down.

Step 3: Reducing and Decanting

Acidic liquid

Place Jar C into the refrigerator to sit overnight. This is commonly called fridge decanting. In the morning you will see a layer of sludge on the bottom of your container. This is sediment that was so fine it passed through your filters in the previous step. But now it has settled and clumped together. Set up the Buchner filter once again and run your liquid thru it. Since the sediment is all clumped together it will now catch in the filter much easier. Usually after doing this step I get a extrememly clear liquid that I can easily see thru. If you don't and you have the time try decanting in the fridge again and refiltering.

Now that you have the acidic liquid decanted you want to reduce it down to a workable size. This step may not be necessary if you have the equipment large enough to handle the amount of liquid you have x 2 ( the basifying procedure will make the volume increase roughly times 2). You will need to place all of the liquid in a glass casserole dish and place it in the oven and turn it to its lowest setting. Warm the solution. Again keep it warm do not overheat it. This will be a very slow process and will most likely take a hour or two. You should be trying to wind up with around 500 ml of solution. Check the solution every 15 minutes to make sure it is not getting too hot.

If you get a film forming over your solution you most likely reduced it down too much add a little distilled water to the solution and remove it from the oven.

Once you have reduced the liquid down to around 500 ml you can place it into Jar A. I have found the safest way to transfer the solution is with the turkey baster. Just suck it from the casserole dish and put it into the jar. If your try to pour the liquid even with a funnel it can sometimes spill.

Photo 1&2: After removing the sludge place the liquid into a glass baking dish and place it in the oven set on the lowest setting. After it has reduced a decent amount you can put it back into a flask and measure how much liquid you have. I was able to reduce down to just a little over 500 ml.

Photo 3:After you have filtered the material. You will need to place the extracted water into the fridge to sit overnight. You can't see it well in this picture but at the bottom there is a thin film of sludge. This is tiny particles that made it through the filter.

Step 4: Defatting

Some people choose not to defat their extractions. Usually this is the reason why you get a oily result instead of crystals. To get pure crystals you have to defat. You will be doing 3 defats. The process is the same each time.

Place your extraction into the separatory funnel. Add 100 ml of warm naphtha. DO NOT warm the naphtha directly it is very flammable. The best way to do this is put it into a flask and place that flask into hot water for a few minutes, a heat bath.

Once the naphtha is added you will need to stir the mixture. You can do this by turning the separatory funnel end over end making sure that the cork at the top is in control and will not fall out. I usually tape it on rather thoroughly, keep in mind you will need to allow the air to escape every couple minutes. What I usually do is turn the funnel upside down and open the valve at the bottom for a couple seconds to vent. Do not shake the separatory funnel. If you do you will trap air in the naphtha and it will be very difficult to get a separation. Turn it end over end for around 5 minutes.

After you have sufficiently mixed the contents sit it in a stand and let it sit still until there is a distinct separation between the naphtha and the extract. This could take up to several hours sometimes. To speed up the process try running hot water like in a shower or sink if it's big enough, over your separatory funnel and allow the mixture to sit for a few more minutes. This should get the separation to work. Make sure none of the water gets into the separatory funnel. You will also need to remove the cork and allow air to escape from the container. I usually put a piece of cling wrap on the top with a couple small holes punched in it. This allows venting without evaporation.

Once the materials have separated place a flask at the bottom of the funnel and open the valve. You will need to close the valve quickly when it reaches the naphtha. You should now have your extraction in a flask and the naphtha in the funnel. You can discard the naphtha and begin the process again. You will need to do this 3 times. Be sure to clean your funnel well between defats.

After you have finished the third defat you are ready to continue on to the next step.

Photo 1: A picture of the separatory funnel with naphtha just added. I haven't mixed the liquids yet.

Photo 2: One of the first things I do is tape down the cap of the funnel so that I don't have to worry about it falling off as I tip it to stir the liquids together. I prefer to tip end over end instead of shaking because it creates a whole lot less bubbles.

Photo 3: After mixing the liquids for a few minutes you can see that there are quite a few bubbles in the naphtha. Running the funnel under hot water for a few minutes will help get rid of these pesky little troublemakers. If your separatory funnel won't fit into the sink use the shower.

Photo 4: Once the liquids have separated sufficiently I will open the bottom valve of the separatory funnel and drain out the extract, cutting it off right when it reaches the naphtha.

Step 5: Basifying

You will need to prepare a base solution by taking 200 ml of warm distilled water and adding lye to it. Lye is a very volatile material so be very careful with it. Add very small amounts of lye to the water and stir it well. Test the pH often. You are aiming for a pH of 12-13. Once you have the pH at the desired level. Bring out your extraction and place it into the separatory funnel. You will now be adding this lye water to your extraction. Do so in small quantities. Very slowly and while stirring the extraction. I usually hold the funnel in one hand rotating it so as to create a whirlpool effect in the funnel and use the other hand to add the base.

You will notice that the liquid will become gray in color and will eventually turn black, this is normal. Check the pH of your extraction. You are trying to reach a pH level of 12. Keep adding the lye water to the extraction until you reach this pH, but stir well to ensure a accurate measurement.

At some point you will probably need to split your liquid because the volume has gotten too big and you cannot add any more base solution. It's totally fine to do this if you need to. This is what I had to do between steps 4 and 5 in the pictures.

Once you have gotten a pH level of 12-12.5 you will need to shake the container by turning end over end. Every couple of seconds stop and release the air that has built up.

The extraction will now look like a thick black tarlike liquid. Double-check the pH level of your liquid and make sure the pH level is over 12. You have now completed the basifying procedure.

Photos 1-7: Here are some images of the basifying procedure as the process carries on. You can easily see where the liquid turns from dark red to gray than to a brownish black.

Photo 8: After adding the base solution to your extract you will have quite a bit of liquid. It over doubled my extraction size which was previously only 550 ml. Now it takes up 2 flasks.

Step 6: Extracting the DMT

The time has now come to extract the DMT from the solution. You will be doing this step 3 times to make sure you have gotten all of the DMT you can. Keep your fingers crossed - you're in the home stretch now.

Place 100 ml of warm naphtha into the separatory funnel. Tape the cap down and mix the liquids by turning the funnel end over end. Release the bottom valve every few seconds to let off any built up vapor. You need to make sure the liquids are thoroughly mixed and that the naphtha has come in contact with all of the extract. At this point the DMT is making a move from the extraction to the naphtha.

After stirring well allow the funnel to separate until you can see 2 distinct layers. On top will be the naphtha that now contains the DMT. On the bottom will be your basified extract. Usually it takes some time before the liquids separate completely and a definite line can be seen between the two. You can help this process along by doing a hot bath. Place the funnel into the sink or shower and run hot water over it for about 10 minutes. Then allow the funnel to sit for awhile and you should get a good separation. If not reheat the funnel again and perform the same procedure.

You will now need to drain off the extraction. One very important thing here is to get all of the naphtha you can without getting any of the extract. If you get the black extract in the naphtha then this will end up in your final product and this is not good. I usually cut the valve off a little late in the first two separations just to be safe. Any naphtha that is left in the extractions on the first 2 will carry over into the third and thus there is no worry of loss. The third separation is where you will need to be very careful to get all the naphtha as possible without getting any of the extraction.

Once you have drained off the extraction place another flask at the bottom of the funnel and drain off the naphtha. This is one of the few times I do not recommend cleaning your funnel between processes. Some naphtha will stick inside the funnel and this time it has DMT in it so try to keep it. Now re insert the extract and add a fresh batch of naphtha and repeat the process.

Once you have all 3 of the naphtha liquids extracted from the process let it sit and see if any of the black extraction has made it into your product. If it has then you need to get it out.

You are now ready to do a wash.

Photo 1&2: After adding the naphtha to the basified solution and mixing I ran hot water over the funnel for several minutes. This really helps get the separation. After that I let it set for about 15 minutes. Look how sharp the line between the naphtha and the basified solution is. There is still a few big bubbles but they can be popped with a copper wire easily.

Step 7: Washing

This is a somewhat new process that is not found in many of the older teks. This process will try to remove as many of the foreign chemicals from the naphtha solution as possible. Especially the lye that was added in a previous step. The goal here is to leave only the DMT in the naphtha so that when you evaporate you end up with pure crystals.

Begin by taking about 50 ml of Distilled water and placing it into a flask and adding sodium carbonate to it. Just add a pinch to the water. It doesn't take much. You will only be using this mixture for the first wash. Do not use it for the second and third washes.

A little dab will do yah here, add only a small amount of the water/sodium carbonate solution to your naphtha. If you have 300 ml of naphtha then you want to put around 25 ml of the sodium carbonated water. Mix the 2 together and then place them in a separatory funnel. Shake the hell out of it this is the only mixing step where the liquids separate almost immediately so no worries about too much agitation. Separate the water from the naphtha and discard the water.

For the second and third washes you want to use only distilled water nothing should be added. 25 ml per wash is sufficient. Perform the same procedure as above. You should not leave the water in the naphtha for too long. This means no sitting for hours letting it 'soak' you need to get it in and out.

Photo 1:After a healthy shaking the water and the naphtha almost immediately separate. Only if all separations were this easy. The water is on the bottom of the funnel.

Photo 2: After 3 washes the naphtha is clear as glass.

Step 8-A: Evaporation

Note: There are 2 ways to get the DMT out of your solvent. This step will have a higher yield but the other will result in a purer product as well as enable you to rescue the naphtha. The other process is below.

This is the final stage. Pour the naphtha that you have collected into a glass baking dish. You will now need to let this stuff evaporate. I do not recommend attempting to speed along the process by having a fan blow over the dish. This will cause dust and small insects to get caught in the naphtha.

Patience is a virtue. You need to take your time on this step and let the naphtha evaporate naturally. Lately I have placed a cloth T-shirt over the baking dish. Tape the sides down so that it doesn't fall into the naphtha. This doesn't cause much of a issue with the evaporation as the cotton is porous, and it guarantees that there will be no dust or bugs in your final material. I have heard of some people taping a paper towel over the dish to keep out this stuff.

When looking for a place to evaporate remember to keep it away from any and all electrical devices such as motors. These items give off sparks which can ignite the fumes. And of course keep the naphtha out of reach of open flames as well. The bad thing about evaporating the naphtha is that it smells. So if you are trying to do this in a house or apartment where you don't want others to know you are in for a challenge.

Depending on the volume of naphtha and the size of you evaporation dish it can take anywhere from a few day to 2 weeks for the naphtha to evaporate. Once the naphtha has completely evaporated you will need to take a razor blade and scrape all of the crystals off of the baking dish. Get em all now.

If you are impatient you can speed up the process by using a fan and a large rubbermaid storage container. The containers are usually 5-10 dollars at wallmart. People use them to store clothes usually. Cut 2 holes in each end and cover the holes with a thin cloth. Place the fan and the evap dish in the container and close the lid. This will keep out any foreign particles and still speed up the evaporation. This can be placed outside so the fumes can dissipate easily.

Photo 1: Now comes the hard part, Waiting. I have placed the naphtha in the casserole dish to evaporate. Keep your fingers crossed.

Step 8-B: Freeze Separation

The following process was discovered by 23. The process is relatively simple to perform and basically results in a recrystallization process which is known to yield a very pure final product.

The only big issue here is that you need to use as little naphtha as possible during our 7th step. When crystallizing there needs to be a degree of saturation in the solvent or supersaturation. If there is more solvent than product not all the DMT will fall out. So the key is to use as little solvent as possible 100ml or less per extract, maybe the last extract use 50ml. So during step 7 make sure your chemicals are very warm this will increase their ability to absorb DMT. Cold solvent won't absorb as much as warm solvent.

After you crystallize out of the solvent and filter out the crystals put the solvent back into the fridge to extract a second yield. After placing a flask with the spent solvent in the freezer that there are more crystals in there now. So do this a few times till there no more crystals forming in the solvent. Maybe if you just leave it in the freezer for a few days all the crystals will solidify out, but always double check. You can reuse this solvent for 3 or more extractions. This will save you money as well as at a later time you can evap it off to get any of the remaining DMT although it will most likely be less pure than the original.

As you can see in step 1 you need to place all of the solvent in a airtight container. This is essential if you place it in the freezer open ice will form and as it melts it will get into your naphtha.

After 24 hours in the freezer you can remove the container. Then use a metal object to break the crystals from the side of the container. You must keep the fluid cold as possible. If it begins to warm place it back into the freezer. If it gets warm then it will redissolve the DMT.

Once you have filtered all of the solvent you can scrape the DMT off the filter paper. If you want you can allow the paper to dry this makes the crystals easier to remove.

Place the solvent back into the freezer for 24 hours and see if any more crystals will fall out. If so repeat the separation process. After the separation store the naphtha in a container. You can use this at a later time for your next extraction.

Photo 1: After the solvent is removed from the freezer. Pour the solvent off quickly now or it will redissolve the DMT as it warms.

Photo 2:You can see that the DMT has fallen out of the solvent.

Photo 3:Take a small metal item and break the crystals loose from the edge of the container.

Photo 4:Now you will use a Buchner filter to separate the DMT from the solvent. If the liquid has begun to warm too much. Place it back into the freezer. You want it to stay cold so the DMT does not redisolve.

Photo 5:Place the solvent into the filter and perform the separation.

Photo 6: Scrape the crystals from the filter paper.

Photo 7: All Done

Step 9: Solvent Wash

This is something I have just recently developed. Even if you follow the tek above perfectly a small amount of basified solution will make it into your final result. This basified solution contains LYE which is extremely harsh to smoke. By doing this solvent wash after you have scraped up the crystals you can virtually eliminate all of the lye in your final result as well as many other contaminants. Once you have scraped up your result from step 8 place it in a small glass container. In another container place a small amount of Naphtha and run hot water over it. You want the naphtha to be warm to the touch.

Once this is done add about 50 ml of naphtha to the flask holding the crystals. If this is not enough to dissolve all of the crystals then add a little more. The goal here is to put just enough naphtha into the flask to dissolve the DMT but not too much because you want it to evap quickly. Stir the flask by swirling it around. Do not place anything in the flask as you will disturb the sediment that should build up on the bottom. If the crystals do not want to dissolve then place the flask in a pot of hot water ( heat bath ). This will make the basified junk gummy and it will lose form and sink to the bottom adhering to the bottom of the flask.

Allow the flask to sit for one minute. Then pour off the naphtha. Once you have gotten all of the naphtha add about 10 ml more to the flask and swirl it around. This is to make sure you have gotten all of the spice. You can then add this 10 ml to the other 50 ml making sure that no sediment from the bottom makes it over. If you feel you still may have DMT in the flask by all means add more naphtha and attempt to dissolve it. There's no rule to how many times you can add naphtha the sediment after being in the heat bath should be stuck to the bottom quite well. So use as much naphtha as you feel is necessary.

You can now evap off the naphtha and re collect your crystals. They should be much cleaner and show a more defined crystalline structure.

If there is still junk you can do a second wash. You should lose very little DMT on each wash so do as many as you need to get a good final result.

Photo 1: I placed the DMT into a 50 ml flask to dissolve. When I first acquired this DMT it was very white but over the period of 10 days it has taken a yellowish tint.

Photo 2&3: As you can see after the wash there is a layer of crud that has formed on the bottom of the flask. This is base solution that was caught up in the naphtha from step 8 and also some dust from the evap process.

Photo 4:Here is a shot after evap. It's not easy to see in this pic but instead of white crystals they have a much more transparent quality. They also do not turn to powder when scraped.

Final Notes

What more can I do? I have shown you a simple and concise way to extract DMT from mimosa hostilis. If you follow this tek to the letter I feel confident that you also will be able to have a final product that is very pure.

Since my goal has been to show all who cared to learn a way of extracting relatively pure DMT and I have accomplished this goal in my tek here there is little more that I can do on the extraction process. After all what more could you want than pure DMT to experience? That being said I doubt that there will be many updates to this tek in the future. It's time for me to move on to other aspects of Deep Thought.

For those who are interested in recrystallization I have left my experiments on this process up.

Now, a lot of people have a issue with smoking DMT. I have designed an apparatus to do this effectively and the materials can be bought all around town. You can find the design here: DMT Smoking Device. It makes smoking DMT much easier than anything I have found anywhere else.

Also I suggest you check out the tips section before trying any extraction. ~Vovin

Vovin's Experimental Recrystallization

Sept 2004

• Note - This is a work in progress. This process has not been refined. This is not a tek on Recrystallization yet. I am still working on tweaking the process. Keep that in mind if you choose to follow along.

I am a fanatic about the purity of my final product. I think it is essential for health reasons to make sure that you have as pure a final result as you possibly can. Over the last few months there has been a buzz that using a recrystallization process you could grow essentially pure crystals of DMT.

If this process becomes refined I think it will be one of the biggest breakthru's in extraction. That being said this page is not a tek as of yet. It is a journal of my current experiments to refine this process. There will be alot of trial and error before I will be able to publish a complete and consice tek on how to go about this so please bear with me.

The Goal:

The theory is that when you add DMT to a hot liquid it will dissolve. Once it has dissolved and the liquid slowly becomes cooler. It will not be able to hold all of the DMT. Hotter liquids can hold larger quantities of dissolved materials than cold liquids can. So as the liquid cools the DMT will begin to form into crystals.

Now, one property of crystals is that they essentially consist of only one element - in this case DMT. So by heating a liquid and adding the DMT and then cooling that liquid allowing the DMT to crystallize you are growing pure DMT crystals. Thus eliminating any contaminants which will remain dissolved in the liquid. It's a good theory, as you will see theory and practice are a world apart.

Experiment 1

Well from what I know of this process there is one very good thing here. Regardless of how you do this there is very little chance of losing the DMT. All you essentially have to do is to evap the naphtha to recover your spice.

With that in mind I decided to do some experiemnting trying to figure out the ratio of naphtha to DMT. I want it to be barely enough naphtha to dissolve all of the DMT. Too much naphtha means that the DMT will not recrystallize when cooled. Too little means that the DMT will not be able to dissolve.

There is very little out there concerning recrystallization so I have decided that I would start from scratch. I took about half a gram and placed it in a small 50 ml flask. In retrospect this was too much DMT to do at one time. It barely dissolved in the naphtha. The flask I used was only 50 ml. I wanted it to be as small as possible so bigger crystals would form.

Once I finally got the DMT to dissolve I discovered many of the contaminants had not and they were still at the bottom of the flask. I soon came to realize that I would have to evap off all of the naphtha and start over.

Once I began to pour off the liquid I seen a bottom layer of crud in the flask. I added more naphtha hoping to dissolve any remaining DMT and separate the materials that would not dissolve. I figure this crud is actually particles of dust and contaminates that have made its way into the extraction process most likely during evaporation. I was quite happy to see that the dmt looking materials dissolved but the crud stayed stuck to the bottom of the flask. Well if all else fails at least I know I can get alot of junk out of my product just re dissolving it.

Once I scraped the crud out of the flask it appeared very dark. It reminded me of the basified liquid from the extraction. I am assuming that microscopic droplets of basified liquid made it into the naphtha from the extraction and was concentrated when the evap was performed. I could also see tiny particles that were obviously airborne dust that had made its way in during the evap. All in all I think it is wise to perform this redissolving process to get these impurities out before one begins recrystallization.

• Update

After a while I decided to test a theory on this crud. I took a small quantity of distilled water pH of 7 and added this crud to it. After stirring for a few minutes I tested the pH again. It had jumped to 10. I think this is a sure sign of lye in this junk and thus this is quite likely basified solution that had gotten stuck in the naphtha.

Experiment 2

I waited a day allowing the naphtha to slowly evaporate. I didn't want to accelerate the process because I was hoping to see how many crystals I would get from a highly concentrated evap like this.

I began the process with the same DMT I evapped from experiment 1. I took away some of it because I had a really hard time getting the large amount I used last time dissolved. If I were to guess I would say I used approx 1/3 of a gram of DMT on this run.

I placed the DMT into the 50 ml flask as I did before. I then added warm naphtha. I added one test tube right off and then used a dropper to add more until I had just enough to dissolve the DMT.

I then placed a piece of saran wrap on the top of the flask to prevent evaporation which could screw up my Naphtha - DMT ratio. Once this was done I placed the entire flask into a pot of hot water. I let the flask sit in the water until it had become cool to the touch. Once that was accomplished I took the flask out and then let it sit for 1 hour at room temperature. Then I placed the flask into the fridge to sit again for a hour. Last I placed the flask into the freezer where I let it sit overnight.

In the morning I took the flask out of the freezer and let it sit for 45 minutes on a table. The goal here is now that crystals have begun to form that warming the solution to room temperature would dissolve the small crystals again but it would take much longer for the large crystals to redissolve. Much like placing a large cube of ice in water. It takes a lot longer for a large cube of ice to melt in water than it does for a small chip of ice to dissolve.

After the 45 miutes I placed the flask back into the refigerator for 1 hour then into the freezer again. At this point I came to the realization that since the DMT had crystallized on the sides there was too much naphtha in the mixture. This would slow the process of crystallization since when frozen, the naphtha could easily hold the remaining DMT because a good percentage of it had been removed from the solution to form the crystals.

No worries tho I decided that it was high time that I evapped some of the naphtha to reset the ratio. I used a cool flow of air which I allowed to blow for 5 minutes before I put the flask back into the freezer for 20 minutes. I did this because I did not want the solution to get too warm. This would cause the crystals the begin to re-dissolve. After getting rid of around 10 ml of the naphtha I placed the flask back into the freezer for a hour.

I then allowed the flask to sit on a table for another hour to warm to room temperature. After this it was placed into the refigerator for a hour and then in the freezer for 2 hours. Once I was sure it was nice and cold I removed it and poured off the naphtha. I made sure this was done when the solution was as cold as possible beacuse that would be when there was as little amount as possible of DMT dissolved in the naphtha.

I then allowed the flask to air dry to evap any naphtha that was remaining. The crystals appeared to be quite small and formed into tiny clumps. They were very easy to remove from the sides of the flask. When removed they had the consistency of slightly wet salt. They held a grainy shape well.

Images:

1. The result after the evap. The crystals look quite pure. Since there was such a small quantity of naphtha and it evaporated quickly the crystals were small. The slower the evap usually the larger the crystal formations.

2. I placed the solution into a hot pan of water to ensure that all the DMT had been dissolved. Notice that I have placed saran wrap to cover the flask that is essential as you will get a lot of evaping as well as condensation in the process.

3 & 4. After removing the solution from the freezer you can see that it has turned white. As it warms you can see the small white crystals that have begun to form on the sides of the glass.

5. The final result. As you can see crystals formed in the bottom of the flask. Not nearly as big as I had hoped but they appear quite pure. BTW there is still a little naphtha in the flask that I had to let evap.

Vovin's tips page

Tricks of the trade:

Here are some random tips and tricks I have learned since working on this project. I chose to place them here to make the guide less bulky. Cleanliness is vital. Placing your liquid into a flask or funnel that has not been cleaned well will result in junk winding up in your extraction. Clean all your containers thoroughly every time before use.

Don't use regular water. Some people don't bother with distilled water. In my opinion this is one of the worst things you can do. If you boil up some water and place it in a coffee cup to evaporate you will see a white residue left behind. You will be using quite a bit of water in this experiment which means a lot of junk. Distilled water is available in every grocery store on the planet.

Ebay is your friend. I purchased all of my lab equipment off of ebay. It is much cheaper than purchasing from a lab supply store and no questions are asked. All of the items I got had very slight 'cosmetic' defects but they did not cause any issues in the functioning of the equipment.

Cling wrap is a excellent tool in covering your flasks and other containers. It prevents evaporation and also reduces the chance of spilling the material. Plus dust and particles can get into your extraction if you don't have something as a lid. I use the cling wrap because it can easily be punctured to allow venting while sealing the container as well. Put a rubber band around the neck to keep it on as well.

Keep it down. If you are using a 500ml separatory funnel and 500 ml flasks they do have a little more room in them but not a whole lot. Do your very best to keep your solution down to 500 ml. You can do this during the reducing stage. If you plan on making larger batches then buy bigger glassware. With a 500 ml solution you will have plenty of room to add solvents and such to your containers. Cutting corners can cost you. This is the first hard lesson you will learn. Do your best to stick to the guide. By trying to cut corners you are adding more variables into a already hard situation. This leaves a lot more room for error.

When in doubt stop and ask. DMT World is a great place to ask questions. It is much easier to put a hold on your work and ask than it is to try to go back and fix a mistake. Read the rules before posting there. They are strict on certain things to preserve the legality of their website.

Take a test drive. If you are new to Psychedelics I recommend you buy a small amount of Syrian rue and make a Ayahuasca brew. It is not a whole lot like smoked DMT. But it will give you a little idea of what you are in for. DMT is the most powerful Psychedelic there is jumping in with both feet can be a bad thing. Something go wrong? Well fill out this questionnaire and post it at DMT World. Someone will usually be able to help you troubleshoot it. There is a possibility that you can still recover your material. That is why I try my best to save all the materials until I am done so I can go back to them if I need to.

Study study study. I highly recommend that you read all of the teks available on the Internet not just this one. Read and re read them get to know the process well. I have done my best to make this tek up to date with all the new methods available but the old teks are still a wealth of information.

Ronsol = the devil. Ronsol lighter fluid is a very filthy naphtha. Don't use it unless you have absolutely no other choice.

You can use home made set ups, mason jars instead of flasks, a funnel/cotton balls to filter, but they will not work nearly as well as the real deal lab equipment. This is a hard process and If you can afford it these items will make it much easier and ensure a better chance of a good yield. You can also use pH papers instead of a digital meter but this is something I would never do. Having a proper pH at certain points will ensure you have a successful extraction.

Start small. Don't try to do a pound of mimosa on your first extraction. Do a small amount first to get the hang of the process. Blowing 1/8 of a pound of material is not nearly as depressing as blowing all of it. You will most likely make a few mistakes on your first extraction anyway.

Keep a hold on your buckner filter. First extraction I did was a bad one because I lost half of it when the buckner filter fell over. The hose that connects the filter to the hand pump is very rigid and it is very easy to tip the top heavy filter over while moving the pump. Have a hand on it to steady the thing.

Make absolutely sure your valve on your separatory funnel is closed before you pour liquid in. Seems simple but you'll be surprised how often people forget to check this.

Don't put a lot of liquid into the filter at once. Do it a little at a time. I go through about 15 filters from start to end on a extraction like the one in the guide. The filter paper is very thick. It's almost like typing paper. Thus the pores clog up rather quickly.

Evaporation is a pain in the ass. No matter how hard I try I always seem to get dust in the naphtha while it sets in the casserole dish. Try your best to find a area that has decent ventilation but no dust. I know that's a tall order but your material is very exposed and tiny gnats and dust particles seem to be attracted to it like a magnet. I have stopped using a fan to speed evaporation because it tends to add a lot of dust to the material.

Go with the latest. I know there are many teks out there that vary widely in how they do their extraction. You have to keep in mind that many of these teks are over 5 years old. There has been a lot of new advancements and refinements in DMT extraction over the last few years. I am not saying the teks are no good, they are still quite effective, but they may not be up to date on recent discoveries.

It seems like one would lose some DMT from the material with all the filtering, recrystallizations and washes. Yes you will lose some, not a lot but some. I myself am totally dedicated to getting as pure a product as possible. Don't get me wrong, I want as much from each extraction as I can get but in the end quality > quantity. If the final product is so full of impurities that it is extremely harsh to inhale then in my mind I have failed.

Reference

1. ↑ Vovin's Unabridged Extraction guide Version 1.2 September -2004 [1]