A Cool Find...

[georged]

Question: why are American blending houses such whoosies about making plug?

You mean selling it in unsliced form. They already MAKE tons of it. What's known as "flake" is just sliced plug, for example.
But forgetting the semantics, that's a good question.

 

[saltedplug]

Russ Ouelette told me that as plug is pressed under such weight for so long that it crushes the cell boundaries, thus the melding. Vito Giansante told me that the pressure induces heat, and that given the close proximity of the leaves, chemical exchange/bonding occurred at a higher rate. Of course the same thing occurs with loose tobacco, but not to as great an extent. So flake, though previously plug, is probably held in at a lesser pressure and for not as long, and the bonding that might have occurred in plug thus also less, especially the flake from C&D.
In my humble opinion all tobacco should be plug, in which case I might more easily be able to imagine myself a laborer walking home after a long day, cutting small pieces from the plug resident in my pocket.

 

[jeffro]

I found some photos of the Gawith Hoggarth plug cutter. Yes a very rubust plug cutting machine that is 100 years old

http://www.gawithhoggarth.co.uk/upl...es/2/69b697a7-f5ec-4c39-ab3b-b72e1ddde246.jpg

http://www.gawithhoggarth.co.uk/upl...es/2/116da24b-1389-4913-9db2-5405726461e4.jpg

http://www.gawithhoggarth.co.uk/upl...es/2/d5fd3350-701a-41e0-a304-bc3c361929d5.jpg

http://www.gawithhoggarth.co.uk/upl...es/2/03b2e2e7-f621-4474-824a-64c5b3ef60f1.jpg

 

[jvnshr]

Flake cutting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4QNCvQGd0I

 

[admiral]

I think Stan had started a topic about a vintage cutter he bought few months ago.

Not sure if he reported back how it works
But again it was George that mentioned that it is not that nice and easy and clean as it may look sound
Back on the topic plug/rope ....

One of the very few advantages living on this side of the pond is that I can get my hands on some plugs/ropes relatively easy and without feeling like a drug dealer smuggling shits through the customs.
It is fun playing with these and a bitch if you need them handy to smoke. By far you are not living a dream pirate life where you got the thing in your pocket, slice a piece throw it in a pipe and stroke the match

The bastards needs preparation - slice, dry, rub, dry, rub again (or whatever your method would be);

Just slicing it will leave you with a very, very very thick flake/slice/ thats not really ready for instant smoking.

 

[jvnshr]

Industrial-sized tobacco slicers are a whole different animal.

One of those at work:

 

[jeffro]

Cool Gif, I bet you really have to pay attention to what your doing with that machine pumping out flake tobacco as fast it is!