Do It Yourself Tobacco Press?

[tjameson]

I think one of the problems with the press idea is the tobacco being used at least if you are trying to make flake. I would think to make flake you would need mostly whole leaf tobacco and maybe some processed condiment leaf. Otherwise you will end up with crumble cake or a sheet of tobacco that will simply fall apart instead of shredding like flake.

 

[ffmurray]

I don't think the 48" wrench is too much ...

I bent the C clamp a little bit with the 24" so I'm going to say for this press of mine that is the limit. Once I get everything unpacked from my move I'll use my shop press to give this crumble cake thing the good old "I sorta went to college but bought a bunch of tools instead" try
@tjameson I can't speak for everyone but I'm just trying to increase the speed at which the tobacco marry and have a uniform flavor throughout the blend, I have no intention of creating a flake at this point in time, but I would love to try it Ion the future

 

[tjameson]

I definitely agree that pressing even an already processed bled will help marry the flavors more quickly.

 

[cortezattic]

It's a fun thing to do in any event. It's just another aspect of the hobby.

 

[ffmurray]

lets see if i can get this image to show up. The cake was in the ghetto press for about 12 hours and i pulled it out. It is one cohesive cake and in the center its even a little glossy. The press is very small and i would like to keep pressing more of the batch of tobacco I mixed up, so my plan is to make a small cake every 12 hours or so and just keep jaring them up. Im hoping that even without the constant pressure just being smashed together into a solid cake will help the flavors marry quicker than being loose in a jar.

The tobacco is a mix that I made up, 2 parts MacBarren Dark Twist quartered and rubbed out, 2 parts Carter Hall, 1 part blending latikia and one part blending perique. I know the perique level sounds high, but for me it just worked, and Ive read that it mellows a bit once it marries into the blend.

 

[misterlowercase]

...this stuff from a few months back looked like it came out well...
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/shawn622-best-brown-flake
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/fresh-from-the-press-baron-samedi-midnight-plug

 

[shawn622]

I built a press out of wood and some c clamps.

 

[spartan]

Pics or it didn't happen.

 

[spartan]

So it's a mix of squished aromatic tobaccos? lol How does it taste?
Is it a super aromatic now?

 

[zonomo]

curious what the pressing does. You take already lose tobacco, smash it into squares, rub it out so it becomes lose tobacco? Seems like you could just smoke the lose tobacco and cut out the middle man.

 

[spartan]

Well, the whole idea of pressing tobacco is to create a uniform melding of flavors, and it takes up less space lol.
And I fucking love Dragon Ball.
Frieza is cool. But his brother is "Cooler". Hey-Oh! ::

 

[ffmurray]

I'm wishing I had used something better than my scrap jar.

You can ways make more, it does great things to mixes

 

[pylorns]

How's this for a box press - 14 hours left..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Antique-Wood-Brass-Butter-Cheese-Press-Mold-/121169160958

 

[nismo270r]

This thread was sort of resurrected, right? Sitting around the hotel after the Columbus show this past August, I got to chat a little with Lee Erck about home pressing. He was explaining he basically cut out a circular piece of wood (not sure how thick) that fit into a half-pint mason jar. That coupled with a "click clamp" like you would use to hold wood together while glue was drying, I think he said he could get around 14oz of McClelland's 5100 into the 8oz jar. I'll have to get a hold of him and see if he can give me some more details, but he and another couple that had done it said it changed the flavor quite a bit, in a good way of course.

 

[spartan]

It was determined, either in this thread or another, that any hand clamp device really isn't going to produce a flake for you, but would be adequate for any cake-like crumbly creations.
The amount of force to make your own flakes would need more power than clamps could offer.
I've had fun watching people use their trucks to make cakes. No one yet as far as I know actually makes their leftovers or any other tobacco of theirs into flakes via home press.

 

[gtclark]

Glynn Quelch (formerly of Gauntley's Tobacco in Nottingham) uses a modified cigar box and a few clamps to make his BurPer Kake - you can see it here: video link
The press appears at about 6:30 in the video

 

[mike73]

Cool video!

 

[fitzy]

I swear that's painful to watch. Slightly bigger clamps and he wouldn't have to go through all that bullshit. Or slightly thinner boards. WTF.

 

[gtclark]

I swear that's painful to watch.

It kind of reminds me of that scene in Austin Powers where he's doing the three point turn in the tunnel...
However, with three or four good sized clamps at hand, it could be a pretty easy process.

 

[fitzy]

ha ha Awesome analogy gt.
I swear it makes me want to pull my hair out. he he