Power Matic IV Tax Beating Machine Review

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Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,960
14,335
Humansville Missouri
My fondness for the delicious, fragrant, goodness of Buoy Gold is as well established as my certain faith that ancient Pre 54 Algerian briar is the best briar for a pipe.

I feel pity for my friends who’ve not discovered them yet.

But when I was a boy I learned to hand roll a cigarette using OCB papers and Prince Albert, Velvet, or Half and Half. It takes time to smoke a bowl in a pipe. Then I got a Bugler roller that made better cigarettes than I could ever hope to roll myself.

Today in the mail came a $75 cigarette roller, that if you smoke even a few cigarettes you should have. Even if you don’t smoke cigarettes you should own one as something to entertain your friends that do smoke cigarettes.

A six ounce package of Buoy Gold (or Red, Blue, or Silver) costs five bucks plus tax.

A package of 200 Golden Harvest tubes is about $2.50, plus tax.

Buying in quantity reduces the price, slightly.

The federal tax on a package of cigarettes is one dollar, or ten dollars a carton. The huge tobacco companies pay that tax, and pass the cost along to you.

$7.50 of Buoy and Golden Harvest tubes, makes one carton of delicious smokes.

There are a lot of cigarette machines on the market, but the $75 Powermatic IV is as much fun as owning your own pinball machine. It is absolutely magical to use. It’s semi automatic, but you make a perfect cigarette as fast as you can lift the lever and place a tube on the spout.

The next time the hirelings of Big Tobacco in Congress raise the tobacco tax it is a certainty they will tax all loose tobacco to equalize the taxes paid on a package of cigarettes.

You can roll a better tasting package of cigarettes for about three quarters of the federal tax on a factory package of cigarettes.

This will not long continue.

But on this day, for about the cost of one carton of cigarettes you can buy a Powermatic IV and enough tobacco and tubes to roll a carton, and from then on roll your own smokes for about three or four cents each and smile from ear to ear doing it.

You want one of these, although you may not realize it yet.

Do it while it’s still legal.

The gubbermint and Big Tobacco will certainly tax these out of existence soon.

IMG_7023.jpegIMG_7024.jpegIMG_7025.jpeg
 
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Reactions: Piping Abe
Dec 6, 2019
5,061
23,218
Dixieland
They'll never be as good as a Newport or even a 24/7. But, they'll save you money if you force yourself to smoke em.

There's a topping missing from the RYO, that's present in the store bought smokes. Maybe chocolate, fruit, or vanilla? Maybe beaver anus juice... Maybe all those flavors combined, who knows?

Tax evaison, I think they call it, aint lawful. You ought to know that.
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,960
14,335
Humansville Missouri
They'll never be as good as a Newport or even a 24/7. But, they'll save you money if you force yourself to smoke em.

There's a topping missing from the RYO, that's present in the store bought smokes. Maybe chocolate, fruit, or vanilla? Maybe beaver anus juice... Maybe all those flavors combined, who knows?

Tax evaison, I think they call it, aint lawful. You ought to know that.

It’s tax avoidance and many of my fellow bar members spend a lucrative career specializing in that.

Jeff Bezos a few years ago, was among the richest people that have ever lived.

He was worth 160 billion or so dollars.

But, like Adam, the first man, he spied a sexy helicopter pilot and although he had everything any man could ever want, he wanted that girl.

His wife settled for a mere 60 billion (in Amazon stock) which reduced his net worth to only 100 billion, but he got to keep Amazon and the helicopter pilot.

Today he’s back to where he was, before he met the Barbie doll helicopter pilot.

Xxxx
Bezos paid zero federal income taxes in both 2007 and 2011. From 2006 to 2018, when Bezos' wealth increased by $127 billion, he reported a total of $6.5 billion in income. He paid $1.4 billion in personal federal taxes, a true tax rate of 1.1%.


Xxxxs

Several years ago it was observed the rich get richer, but it is absolutely NOT TRUE the poor always get poorer.

Thanks to billionaires like Jeff we get to buy gadgets we do not need, but want, from Amazon at low prices.

Jeff will sell you a Power Matic IV for only $62 now, they are on sale.

IMG_7029.jpeg

The Power Matic IV can roll up cartons of PS 400 $50 a pound tobacco too. You could roll up Capstan. A pound makes 500 perfect cigarettes, while you listen to music or watch television.

The tobacco cost to use PS 400 is two dollars a package.

Plus a quarter or so for the tubes.

A little less, than a package of 24/7


IMG_7026.jpegIMG_7027.jpegIMG_7028.jpeg

 
Dec 6, 2019
5,061
23,218
Dixieland
It’s tax avoidance and many of my fellow bar members spend a lucrative career specializing in that.

Jeff Bezos a few years ago, was among the richest people that have ever lived.

He was worth 160 billion or so dollars.

But, like Adam, the first man, he spied a sexy helicopter pilot and although he had everything any man could ever want, he wanted that girl.

His wife settled for a mere 60 billion (in Amazon stock) which reduced his net worth to only 100 billion, but he got to keep Amazon and the helicopter pilot.

Today he’s back to where he was, before he met the Barbie doll helicopter pilot.

Xxxx
Bezos paid zero federal income taxes in both 2007 and 2011. From 2006 to 2018, when Bezos' wealth increased by $127 billion, he reported a total of $6.5 billion in income. He paid $1.4 billion in personal federal taxes, a true tax rate of 1.1%.


Xxxxs

Several years ago it was observed the rich get richer, but it is absolutely NOT TRUE the poor always get poorer.

Thanks to billionaires like Jeff we get to buy gadgets we do not need, but want, from Amazon at low prices.

Jeff will sell you a Power Matic IV for only $62 now, they are on sale.

View attachment 336113

The Power Matic IV can roll up cartons of PS 400 $50 a pound tobacco too. You could roll up Capstan. A pound makes 500 perfect cigarettes, while you listen to music or watch television.

The tobacco cost to use PS 400 is two dollars a package.

Plus a quarter or so for the tubes.

A little less, than a package of 24/7


View attachment 336114View attachment 336115View attachment 336116


I like that term "tax avoidance."

I have one of these:

Screenshot_20240914-044915.png

I figure I've rolled right at 100,000 cigarettes with it.

It has gotten a little weaker, sometimes not pushing the tobacco all the way to the filter, but it still works with no sign of stopping. I'd say I got my money's worth, if it had quit after a year.

I actually only stopped using it a couple years ago when you mentioned that the brand 24/7 cigarettes were $2.50 per pack. I tried those and decided it wasn't worth the trouble to roll my own anymore.

Those cigarettes have since gone up to about $4 a pack and I need to get off my ass and start back rolling.

Problem is, it's hard to replicate a store bought cigarette... Maybe impossible, and the store boughts are a lot better, to my taste anyway.
 
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Sigmund

Lifer
Sep 17, 2023
3,001
28,737
France
In France a lot of people have little plastic doodads that stuff a filtered sleeve. Its quiet efficient and cheap...nothing nearl as fancy. Id own one if I smoked cigs but I dont like them and they dont like me.
 
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Reactions: woodsroad
Dec 6, 2019
5,061
23,218
Dixieland
I don't think cigarette discussion is against the rules.

The rules say E-cigarettes are and hookah is, but I can't read where it says cigarettes are forbidden.

Many pipe smokers over the years have also smoked cigarettes. I certainly don't see the harm in discussing it.

As I have said often, that it's my opinion, that if a person doesn't want to engage in a coversation they should do just that... Stay out of it.
 

BingBong

Lifer
Apr 26, 2024
1,361
5,923
London UK
I don't think cigarette discussion is against the rules.

The rules say E-cigarettes are and hookah is, but I can't read where it says cigarettes are forbidden.

Many pipe smokers over the years have also smoked cigarettes. I certainly don't see the harm in discussing it.

As I have said often, that it's my opinion, that if a person doesn't want to engage in a coversation they should do just that... Stay out of it.
I still smoke cigarettes! But very few nowadays.

Mea culpa for misunderstanding the rules here though. Although, having said that, I've always thought rolling machines were for wussies and big girls' blouses - I can kind of see the attraction of buying your own factory, like you guys have done, but... naaaah lol
 

bullet08

Lifer
Nov 26, 2018
10,230
41,547
RTP, NC. USA
I don't smoke to save on tax, nor money. I smoke because I like the damned thing that comes in nice pretty packages. Yes, we don't have pictures of diseased folks on our packs here in US.
 
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Reactions: suamrai61
Dec 6, 2019
5,061
23,218
Dixieland
I still smoke cigarettes! But very few nowadays.

Mea culpa for misunderstanding the rules here though. Although, having said that, I've always thought rolling machines were for wussies and big girls' blouses - I can kind of see the attraction of buying your own factory, like you guys have done, but... naaaah lol

That post wasn't entirely directed at you. I've seen others post that lately, and I wondered to myself what made them assume that would be so.

I roll some with Top brand papers too. Some pipe tobacco blends taste great in a hand rolled cigarette. Newminster 403 rubbed out is an example.

But to get even close to what I expect from store boughts I need some device to shove the tobacco into the papers.
 

BingBong

Lifer
Apr 26, 2024
1,361
5,923
London UK
That post wasn't entirely directed at you. I've seen others post that lately, and I wondered to myself what made them assume that would be so.

I roll some with Top brand papers too. Some pipe tobacco blends taste great in a hand rolled cigarette. Newminster 403 rubbed out is an example.

But to get even close to what I expect from store boughts I need some device to shove the tobacco into the papers.
Yeah, "tailor made" cigarette tobacco is its own thing and RYO filters are tricky, I agree.

I've tried a few pipe tobaccos in RYO, Dunhill 3-year, Ashton Gold Rush, even Germain Gold Leaf - the Ashton was the most successful in a king-size paper; had I a blender, I'd reduce it with a quick whizz, would be just right and very tasty.
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,960
14,335
Humansville Missouri
One of my other passions is firearms, and about a dozen years ago I bought a pair of Ruger Flattop 44 Special 4 3/4” barrel revolvers and a thousand cases from Starline at Sedalia Missouri for them to load.

I still own 44 Magnum and 357 Magnum revolvers but Elmer Keith was right about the caliber and Colt sized revolver, and Skeeter Skelton made the perfect 44 Special load of 7.5 grains of Unique under a 240 grain Keith bullet.

God Himself must shoot one. It is the perfect handgun and load. Nothing compares.

But you must load every round, yourself. A Skeeter load costs a fraction of a factory load and is infinitely better.

I use a Lee Classic turret press.

And when the do gooders start taxing pot metal and plastic people shooter type guns, mine should be the last one they worry about.

But the do gooders will not long tolerate their Big Tobacco buddies having to compete against 75 cents a pack Buoy Gold cigarretes.

Buoy Gold also is delicious in a pipe.

Preferably a Pre 54 Marxman, but any pipe will do.

For well over thirty years now, when I buy cigarettes I buy American Spirit.

American Spirit full flavored smokes are mostly well cured Virginia tobacco, plus maybe some burley.

Buoy Gold tastes the same, only about a dozen times cheaper.

And I get to collect cigarette cases and have the fun of making them, you know?
 
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condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
8,497
30,080
New York
I used to enjoy it when you could buy Rizla 'Wheat Straw Papers' although sadly they are no longer available. I have never really been a dedicated cigarette guy anyway. As an after thought and not to derail the thread has anyone been getting an odd feeling of something stuck in their throat after smoking Bob's C.H. Flake recently?
 
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Reactions: Briar Lee

Dave760

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 13, 2023
500
5,337
Pittsburgh, PA
I like that term "tax avoidance."

I have one of these:

View attachment 336155

I figure I've rolled right at 100,000 cigarettes with it.

It has gotten a little weaker, sometimes not pushing the tobacco all the way to the filter, but it still works with no sign of stopping. I'd say I got my money's worth, if it had quit after a year.

I actually only stopped using it a couple years ago when you mentioned that the brand 24/7 cigarettes were $2.50 per pack. I tried those and decided it wasn't worth the trouble to roll my own anymore.

Those cigarettes have since gone up to about $4 a pack and I need to get off my ass and start back rolling.

Problem is, it's hard to replicate a store bought cigarette... Maybe impossible, and the store boughts are a lot better, to my taste anyway.
FYI, if you decide to replace your well-worn machine, choose a different model. The current version of the machine you have has been completely crapified. Cheaper materials, weaker motor, and incapable of filling a tube completely.

MBAs ruin everything.
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,960
14,335
Humansville Missouri
Aside from the delicious taste of Buoy Gold the economics of using a Powermatic IV are amazing.

20 pounds of Buoy Gold and 10 five packs of Golden Harvest tubes cost $320 online, and make 10,000 cigarettes, or 50 cartons.

50 cartons of tailor made American Spirit cigarettes cost about $5,000.

The taste to me is about the same.

64 cents a pack against ten dollars a package.

Or you could buy a pound at a time and Buoy is 75 cents a package.

I’ve experimented and the machine will roll crumbled PS 400, or Prince Albert or Velvet almost (not quite) as well as the shag cut Buoy. To me, Buoy tastes better, and construction is perfect using shag tobacco. Save your money, and smoke perfect cigarretes, use the shag.

If you don’t like filters, they break right off. There are no unfiltered tubes I know of for sale.

Smoker’s Pride Cherry rolls a tasty but very slow burning cigarette.

If the tobacco is goopy from excessive PG, the machine will stuff the tube, but jam up occasionally and the smokes are not consistent.


If you like flavorings, try any of the Red brands of shag tobacco.


Such a toy, such a toy!
 

/Adam\

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jul 17, 2024
215
376
48
Pennsylvania
I roll my own cigarettes now too. It’s actually how I stumbled into trying Pipe smoking. In doing all the research I could do before choosing a rolling machine I ended up finding many threads from here and Reddit. The pipe tobacco threads intrigued me so much I had to try it and I’m very happy I did. I hope to one day soon, quit smoking cigarettes and only smoke my pipes. Anyway, in reading this thread here I figured I’d post this. It’s the machine I bought and it’s amazing. I chose this brand mainly because Powermatic has been making their machines with cheaper parts and they don’t last much past a few thousand cigarettes before they start to malfunction. Some malfunction way before that. This thing also does the process a bit different in that it feeds the tobacco into the chamber after stuffing a tube. So when you push the button to stuff the next cigarette it happens immediately. Powermatic machines stuff the tube only. The tobacco chamber gets stuffed after pushing the button. So while it’s no quicker at all it’s just to me more satisfying to my picky nature. I wouldn’t like pushing the button to then hear the machine stuffing the tobacco into the chamber before stuffing the tube. It’s just a small difference. But getting a stuffed cigarette immediately after pushing the button is just more satisfying than pushing the button then having to wait for 3 or 4 seconds to have a stuffed tube. Especially since I like to hold my index finger on the tube while it’s being stuffed just to keep it still and from falling off prematurely. I’ve also read many reviews from people who own both this machine and the Powermatic and not one of those who own both say they liked the PM over the Hawkmatic HK3. The HK3 has a better display screen and also the ability to make fully stuffed 100’s. IMG_1927.jpeg.

I know it’s pricey. But the first month of rolling my own alone has more than paid for the machine. I used to smoke 2 packs a day. Or 6 cartons a month. That’s $600 a month for big brand and even changing brands to buy cheaper the cost was around $450 a month. 2 one Pound bags and 5 boxes of tubes will make 5 cartons for no more than $65. I’ve been rolling with this machine for about 3 months and my bank account has never been happier.
 
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