Restoring Old Star Tobacco Plug Cutter

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BROBS

Lifer
Nov 13, 2019
11,765
40,026
IA
Just another piece of old tobacco paraphernalia to clutter up my home office... I thought it looked cool and the price was right.

Might have to fabricate a new cutting blade. The old one is worn down and there’s a gap in the middle. Not enough height to grind a new edge.
Look at industrial print cutting blades they look just like that but longer usually.

ok technical term “industrial guillotine cutter blade”
 

peteguy

Lifer
Jan 19, 2012
1,530
906
Restore? I have been watching to many Facebook videos. They take a rusted piece of junk and make it look almost as good as yours. Sweet cutter, thx for posting.
 
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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Wow, I'm trying to think of where that would be used on a daily basis, to justify it's industrial heft. Maybe in a blender's workshop or at a big tobacco retailer. The average smoker is just dealing with one plug at a time, and a sharp knife will do to hew off slices to rub out. There's a back story to this that would be good to hear.
 

craig61a

Lifer
Apr 29, 2017
5,765
47,526
Minnesota USA
Restore? I have been watching to many Facebook videos. They take a rusted piece of junk and make it look almost as good as yours. Sweet cutter, thx for posting.

Thanks.

I found this on eBay for $60. And it turned out the seller was just 40 miles away. It had some surface rust in spots, and most of the original paint was worn off, but it didn’t appear to be in bad shape, which it wasn’t.

I’ll try cutting some plugs with it. I don’t think it will be a precision cutter, bought it mainly for display.

Now I’d really like to find an old scale, with pan and weights that slide on a beam.
 

craig61a

Lifer
Apr 29, 2017
5,765
47,526
Minnesota USA
Wow, I'm trying to think of where that would be used on a daily basis, to justify it's industrial heft. Maybe in a blender's workshop or at a big tobacco retailer. The average smoker is just dealing with one plug at a time, and a sharp knife will do to hew off slices to rub out. There's a back story to this that would be good to hear.

These were used in a general store setting, or so I’ve read.

There were plenty of stores around when I was a child that had a candy counter and usually tobacco nearby where you’d tell them to get you so much of this or that, and they’d weight it out for you. The odors of candy, popcorn, Carmel corn, and Aromatic tobaccos wafting through the air. I still have the smell burned into the back of my brain.
 
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btsteve

Might Stick Around
Nov 4, 2015
52
10
Sellersburg, Indiana
Great looking cutter. I have two of these I want to restore one and leave the other with the old patina. I just love the old tobacco paraphernalia. Did you ever find a scale?
 
Mar 2, 2021
3,476
14,247
Alabama USA
These were used in a general store setting, or so I’ve read.

There were plenty of stores around when I was a child that had a candy counter and usually tobacco nearby where you’d tell them to get you so much of this or that, and they’d weight it out for you. The odors of candy, popcorn, Carmel corn, and Aromatic tobaccos wafting through the air. I still have the smell burned into the back of my brain.
They were and I saw them circa mid '60's although obsolete.
 

Fralphog

Lifer
Oct 28, 2021
1,911
22,057
Idaho
As a new member, I’ve been perusing the categories from the Main menu. When I saw this tobacco cutter, I had to go retrieve the one I had setting aside for years on top of the wine cabinet.
This thread may have motivated me to take on a winter project and clean this thing up. The cutting arm still moves freely and has a nice blade. I’m going to have to go do some research and figure out where Tomahawk tobacco was made?
Thanks for sharing @craig61a!
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