Resealing Used Tins

[cwarmouth]

Fitzy: Really? I don't know if I should be offended or laugh. Reselling tobacco? Granted, I have only been around for a few months and have less than 200 posts, but it's not like it was a first post troll. Talking about me in the third person? Even a quick glance at my past posts would indicate that I am a casual hobbyist at best, and I haven't said or done anything to warrant that suspicion. Maybe it's my Chuck Colson avatar that has you suspicious. When Tobaccogate breaks you can be the first to say, "I told you so." LOL Thank you for spelling out your suspicions though. I had no clue.
No. I am not up to anything nefarious and have no intentions of reselling tobacco in used tins and it wasn't me on whatever the Reddit thing was you saw.
I should pause here to say thank you to everyone who contributed to my question. Even if it was to point me to a better way than trying to reseal tins.
Perhaps I should have explained more completely why I want to do this. I am not far enough into the hobby to start cellaring or storing tobacco long term, and the amounts that I store are miniscule compared to what many of you guys do. For Christmas my wife ordered me 8 ounces of Match Presbyterian because she got tired of hearing me whine about waiting for almost a year for the real thing to become available. Presbyterian was my first ever English blend and my all-time favorite tobacco. It came a couple days ago. Then I heard that Nightcap is going away. Nightcap is my wife's favorite and my second favorite, and the other day we decided to order a whopping 16 ounces. A huge investment by our standards and the biggest order I have ever placed. Most of that will go into Mason jars, but I really want to put some in a few Presby and Nightcap tins I have for nostalgia's sake. I am really into aesthetics and I care as much (maybe more) about the way things look and feel than than their practicality. True, it would be easier to slap it all in a jar, but In general I am not a pragmatist. It would be easier to kill a deer with a rifle, but I hunt with wooden longbows and wooden arrows - that I make. I would be easier to catch trout and salmon and redfish and tarpon and whatever else that swims on bait, but I use a fly rod and flies that I make. It would be easier to buy guitars but I make them. Easier to buy boats but I make them. I can go on and on. In general I would rather prefer to do things the way that makes me happy rather than what is easiest. Even if what makes me happy is not "the best". And I think it would really make me happy to be sitting by a lake at 10,000 feet with my wife, and open a tin of the last couple ounces of Nightcap that we will ever smoke, and enjoy it before we crawl into a tent for the night. So if I can find a good way to seal it up in an original tin, that is what I wanna do.
I was curious what y'all thought about the parafin because I have a wax melting pot that I use for melting beeswax and parafin for "potting" guitar pickups. I also like Maker's Mark whiskey and the way that they seal their bottles with wax.
Here are a few pics of my modest pipe cabinet. I have 20ish storage containers of various kinds including jars, bottles, original tins, and even mylar bags as Craiginthecorn also does. I usually use the mylar bags for storing dehydrated food that I make and bag (for backpacking) in the winter and then spend all summer consuming. But in this case I am storing some flakes in them.
Thanks again, y'all. Please keep any ideas coming if you think of them.

 

[lazar]

Those jars that come with pipe stands are terrible - impossible to keep tobacco fresh and moist in those, I've found.

 

[cwarmouth]

Yeah. That is actually a Mason jar in there. Not the original one. Well, I think it is a "Ball", but same difference.

 

[64alex]

Cwarmouth

First of all of my sympathy. I am in a situation very similar to your so I understand perfectly why you want to reseal tins which is why I am doing the same thing.

Going back to your question about materials used for resealing and specifically about paraffin film, I think aluminum foil is still the best. I tried plastic wrap but it is not completely air tight and the tobacco tends to dry in few months and also paraffin film is not 100% air tight. So far aluminum foil up to 2 years keep moist perfectly. I use double aluminum foil bent over as it is more resistent and I don't have to worry of getting teared, in addition the thickness of a dual aluminum foil + electric tape gives by itself an additional seal when you put the lid over it, you have a nice resistance when you close the lid over.

I don't know doing so for how long it can keep moisture of the tobacco, so far I can tell you up to 2 years it is still fine.

 

[unkleyoda]

I am really into aesthetics and I care as much (maybe more) about the way things look and feel than than their practicality.

I can sympathize with you there, I too 'suffer' from that affliction. Good luck in your quest.

 

[fitzy]

Nah don't take it the wrong way. There are shady people on the net and I trust almost nobody. Anyway very nice pipe cabinet.
I hope the wax works for you. I'd be concerned about the tobacco drying out in the jars with the cork stoppers. I hope you smoke those first.

 

[admiral]

As stated several times - you cant really re-seal the tins at home.

Javan mentioned somewhere, that you need some level of vacuum to create the seal.
But the round twist tin tend to "reseal" itself if not half empty and you hand close it tightly.
Bags will work only if thick enough - 6mm or more.

Wax and similar dip sealing solutions will tend to break if carried around.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

By all means, try the wax, report back, and let us know how that works. We had a member a few years ago from a country that didn't have glass jars, or so he said, they only had two metal bowls and he was asking us about using wire to wrap them together. I kid you not. No one really has to get our permission, and most likely we probably don't have experience with these unusual methods. So, be a trendsetter.
On what I said above... If you can read something I post two ways... one way I am just expostulating to the world in third person, and the other way you have to pick up what I say and put it on for it to be an insult, please take the first one. Ha ha. I have been here for a long time, and I wouldn't have lasted very long with this tank full of sharks if it were in my nature to go around insulting people. (Unless of course I have built a report with you and feel comfortable that you'd take my jive as a joke.) I only meant that if there were a way to reseal tins, I'm not sure that someone from the industry would tell us, because it could lead to people flooding ebay (or where ever) with resealed tins.
As to the feasibility of wax on the tins... If you can do it, great. show us. If I could use tins instead of jars, I would. I have boxes of the things. And, yeh, they'd take way less room. It would be cool. But, I am not sure how long a wax seal would last. The wax on the liquor bottles, isn't it more of a plastic than a wax?

 

[davet]

:rofl:

 

[charatansonly]

Hi cwarmouth,

I am from Germany, so I will try my best.

Maybe this information is helpful:
To prevent my tobacco from drying out I put a few strong elastic bands (rubber) very tight around my tins.

They press the rubber sealing in the lid very strong on the rim of the tin so that the tin is airtight again.

After a few weeks the tobacco develops a new vacuum (I suppose its the fermentation process that eats up the oxygen inside the tin).

Till now the longest timeframe a tobacco of mine was kept like this was one year and the result was amazing.

It was with MacBarens Bolt Kentucky. First I tried this tobacco fresh and couldnt stand it (nice taste, but way to strong). After one year in the resealed tin the tobacco was still absolutely fresh, but now it was pure taste - rich and full. It was still contentful, but not at all overstraining or -powering.
Regards!

 

[lazar]

Great first post, charatansonly! Thanks for the tip.

 

[64alex]

[To prevent my tobacco from drying out I put a few strong elastic bands (rubber) very tight around my tins.

They press the rubber sealing in the lid very strong on the rim of the tin so that the tin is airtight again.]
Interesting point you are making. Never tried but might get interested. Maybe instead elastic bands using the plastic bands used to keep cables together, they can be made very tight probably giving more pressure than an elastic band.

 

[cwarmouth]

Welcome to the forum Charatansonly. Thanks for the tip!
64alex: Great idea too. The zip ties would probably be very tight.

 

[64alex]

[Welcome to the forum Charatansonly. Thanks for the tip!
64alex: Great idea too. The zip ties would probably be very tight.]
Thinking more the zip ties might work but only on tins with aluminum/metallic top (the european ones). For the ones with soft plastic top (the american ones) I don't see them to work and a different system need to be used, still in my opinion with aluminum foil and electric tape. But I will try the zip ties in the european tins.

 

[charatansonly]

Thanks for the welcoming!!
cwarmouth:

sorry, I did not realize that you were speaking about tins with plastic lid.

Indeed these tins are not the best solution for longtime storage (resealed).
tins with metal lid:

I really can recommend the solution I mentioned above. It wont get a design award but it works perfectly.

Plastic bands (zip ties) could also be a great solution, but i am not sure if this less flexibel material wont get strechted over time and loose its grip/traction. In my experience you dont need an enormous or extreme pressure but over the long haul a steady and reliable pressure.

Anyway, I will also try the zip ties. The proof is in the pudding.
tins with plastic lid:

I also tried to find a solution for the Rattrays, McConnels etc tobaccos in these tins.

I think I will try the following: I will buy rubber rings with the exact inner diameter of the plastic lid and metall rings/discs with the exact outer diameter of the plastic lid. I will put the rubber ring inside the lid to make the lid really airtight (in my experience plastic is just to recalcitrant for airtight sealing) and the metal disc on top of the lid for an even distribution of the pressure. Then I will again put some rubber bands or zip ties around the tins (not too much pressure or the whole tin will get clinched).
I hope I was able to make my thoughts understandable (sorry, my english...).
Regards!!