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A Bee Iz Born
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Folks... That one says it all! The shit I bought (apparently) is the best Sassafras Albidium on this side of Texas! (even though I'm not in texas heh.. always wanted to say that!) Here's a synopsis of tonight's labwork:
- I'll reiterate what I posted earlier, setup consisted of (all 24/40) 250ml "still" RBF, 3-way adapter w/thermometer adapter, 400mm Liebig, and a 250ml "distillate" RBF. All joints were greased (thin layer @ the top of the male), used keck clamps on both sides of the Liebig condenser.
7:41 - Started cooking; Stirring set to #8, Heat set to full blast. Thermometer (rxn) was lowered this time so that the tip falls just below the point at which the 3-way adapter meets the rxn flask.
7:55 - Bath temp @ 158 C, rxn temp @ 40 C; Came back to read posts, it was suggested that slow heating would yeild better results. Heat reduced to #7.
8:15 - Bath temp @ 180 C, rxn temp @ 55 C; not much more happening; Cranked temp back to #9.
8:50 - rxn temp now @ 74 C, some foaming can be observed in the rxn flask. Started (tap) water through the condenser.
9:00 - Bath temp @ 258 C, rxn temp @ 76 C, appears to be rising slowly. Lots of foaming/bubbling can be observed in the rxn flask. I'm starting to see miniscule (barely noticable) signs of condensation in the condenser-3wayAdapter area. Not much more happening.
9:01 - rxn temp starts climbing quicker, now @ 80 C, bath temp @ 259-260 C appears to be holding. Stirring raised to #9, VERY heavy bubbling & foaming can be observed in the rxn flask.
9:04 - rxn temp climbing steadily, now just above 92 C, bath temp seems to be holding at 260 C; Very heavy bubbling/foaming in the rxn flask. I can clearly see moisture condensing & streaking down the 3-way adapter.
9:07 - rxn temp just shot up to 130 C, VERY HEAVY condensation & streaming going on in the 3-way adapter. bath temp holding @ 260 C, nothing coming over yet.
9:08 - rxn temp sky rocketing! @ 158 C, bath temp holding @ 260 C, lots of bubbling & condensation in the 3-way adapter. I can see moisture condensing & dripping off the rxn thermometer. Temp in rxn flask rising very fast.. now @ 174 C!
9:21 - [I left for a few minutes so I don't know if there were some observations missed] Woah! Bath temp @ 268 C, the room is filling up with smog.. it's not smoke.. but like a thick oily cloud.. looks like the bath oil starting to evap (thats just my guess). Rxn temp is 232 on the dot! Safrole is flowing through the condenser & into the receiving flask at about 2-3 drops per second. I drop the temp down to #9-9.5, have to walk out of the room.. can't fucking breath in here..
- I come back in a few moments later.. I kill the heat on the hotplate (shit.. i don't want to set off the sprinkler system!). I'm satisfied, I'm looking into the receiving flask & see a clear (somewhat thick.. maybe even a little misty) fluid. I smell it... Yep, smell's just like the Sassy did, only stronger. Is this my first date with Safrole??? you tell me!
Conclusions:
I'm guessing my sassy's good shit! Nothing came over before 232 C & at 232 C on the fucking dot it just started pooring over! I guess I didn't heat it enough last night, didn't have the rxn thermometer placed correctly, and concentrated way tooo much on the bath temp (instead of the rxn temp which is where i seemed to have gone right tonight).
I'm gonna have a vacuum pump by next week. I'm hoping that should solve my smoking-bath problem since the bath won't need to be heated more then (i'm guessing here) around 160 C, and last night I went to 250 C with practically no smog. Additionally, I plan to upgrade my vent system to something a bit more powefull. Right now I'm using a stove-type fan that vents right into the building's exhaust ducts that were intended for oven use. Should work. Do I need a respirator mask? Any words on this would be cool.
Lastly, my final concern for tonight's work is to see if there's a way to determine the safrole content (%) of my Sassy. Before starting tonight's cooking session I measured out exactly 98ml of sassafras oil. Is there a way to "interpolate" what percentage is Safrole based on comparison of what's left in the rxn flask & the safrole that came over? PLEASE let me know if you've got info on this.
Finaly, my heart & prayers, as well as immense grattitude goes out to all the bees out there that helped make this possible. Your insight and valued thoughts will surely encourage bees like myself & ravers.. heh all over the world! Next stop for me will most likely be vac distillation and damned-if-i'm-lying, careful insulation of my vigreaux col. to distill 1L of sassy! After that.. it's to the honey comb for me.... bzzzz...
Peace out Y'all!