The Tobacco Press That You Already Own

[woodsroad]

This idea came to me this evening while I was taking a shower. It's where many of my more spectacular inspirations originate.

This is one of those big-assed 1 quart, 13" caulk guns, and it's sized just right for an 8oz jar with 150-200gr of tobacco. This caulk gun will exert a considerable amount of force, albeit nowhere near what a hydraulic press can do. I'm part way into that project. I found some 4" stainless structural square tube and some 1/4" SS plate for the bottom and pressure plate. I'll be using a 30-ton log splitter as the press.
This blend:
Rich and Strange
Virginia: 20%

Cigar Leaf: 15%

Dark Fired Burley: 13%

Oriental: 12%

Stoved Black Virginia: 10%

Latakia: 10%

Perique: 10%

Dark Air Cured: 10%

Shiraz: 30ml
Press on!

 

[woodsroad]

Russ Ouellette stopped by our pipe club last night with the 4 new blends that he's formulated for a co-branding adventure with Missouri Meerschaum. All of them exceptional, all quite different from one another and unique in their own right. We smoked and talked for several hours. Russ is always more than happy to talk tobacco, blending and flavor, and the evening left me inspired.
Thanks, Russ!

 

[cobguy]

Very clever woodsroad!
That would be a great way to save a few mason jars per TAD as well I suspect.

 

[woodsroad]

Yup.
I'll bet that Anniversary Kake would be quite interesting in a year or three if you packed it away like this.
Or squash some Burley and you have your own miniature Perique factory.

 

[organizedmadman]

Do you sell your blends? I'd love to try a bit of that!

 

[woodsroad]

No, it's just a hobby. I've already turned one of my hobbies into a vocation, and I'll be very reluctant to ever do that again!
You should really try this for yourself, not much to it.

 

[pylorns]

Worried at all about the glass breaking?

 

[woodsroad]

Yes.

So far so good.

 

[woodsroad]

When there's a lot of cracks to fill.....

 

[bryanf]

Brilliant. Thanks for the tip. I might have to give that a try.

 

[petes03]

Pretty cool! Let us know how it turns out.

 

[dottiewarden]

Rich and Strange
Virginia: 20%

Cigar Leaf: 15%

Dark Fired Burley: 13%

Oriental: 12%

Stoved Black Virginia: 10%

Latakia: 10%

Perique: 10%

Dark Air Cured: 10%

Shiraz: 30ml

I'm very impressed woodsroad. It's also very inspiring to see someone so involved in the tobacco they smoke. It shant be long 'fore I'm at it myself.

 

[woodsroad]

Dot, you can do it.
Go to 4Noggins or P&C today and buy the basic blending tobaccos. 4Noggins has that great sale on Saseni Balken today, so get on over there and do a TAD! Just get a Virginia like McClelland 5100, some Burley, Latakia, Dark Fired and Perique if roll that way, and have at it. It is difficult to go wrong if you stay within established bounds. Once you have a blend or three under the belt, then push the envelope a bit. Work in 150gr batches, it's about as small as you can go and still fine tune amounts in a repeatable manner. Keep good records. PM me and I'll send you a Word file with one of my formulas, if you want to see how I keep track things...

 

[yazamitaz]

Good stuff Dan.
I missed out on your blends last meeting but I hope you are bringing them for the May 15th meeting. I can't remember if Zach or Sam had some and thought them tasty. I will have to judge myself

 

[fadingdaylight]

Good stuff, I will have to start doing this, thanks woods.

 

[woodsroad]

Dan, I'll bring everything that I have to the next meeting, but two of my blends are now in the press! I was able to press 140gr in to one of those tiny (4oz?) Ball jars. It had loosely filled a 16oz jar.
We should really have a separate forum for blenders...

 

[lockdown199]

Now when you say Shiraz you me wine?

 

[woodsroad]

Yes, Shiraz wine. It's what I had on hand that was red and dry. I think that it could have used more than 30ml. The large amount of Burley in this blend sucked it up pretty quickly. There was no excess liquid when it was compacted.

 

[yazamitaz]

Good to hear Dan, I can't wait to try your Va/Per ( if I am remembering right)
Are your intentions to press into a cake/flake, or is there something else you are trying to accomplish?

 

[davidintexas]

That big ole caulk gun and what you were using it for, Woodsroad, reminded me of the Tim the Tool Man Taylor guy on Home Improvement of years ago