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  • BOTL UPCOMING MAINTENANCE

    Hi Everyone, as mentioned in my introduction post, BOTL needs quite a bit of updating, patching and whatever else I might come across. Over the next few weekends BOTL may be unreachable on occasion as I do migrations or updates, etc. Just be patient - we'll be back! I'll generally try to keep these maintenances until later in the evenings.

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  1. R

    Prepping binder and wrapper leaves

    The biggest challenge I have faced is trimming the display edge. If its not flat before trimming I end up with bumps and pennants that have to be re-trimmed while I'm rolling ( hold cigar with one hand, hold wrapper with one hand, hold chaveta with one hand... you get the point) with wrapper...
  2. R

    Cigar Molds Thread

    I have a copper coupling (1"x3/4") that I use to cut tobacco circles, although I have been doing pigtails of late.
  3. R

    Prepping binder and wrapper leaves

    I have had challenges in getting CT1DW wrapper leaves to stay flat. They are very large and come folded into sticks. I had an opportunity to roll in front of a few friends the other day, and one of them made a comment which got me thinking: would it be advisable to prep stubborn wrapper leaves...
  4. R

    Interesting: cigars and health

    Read the article. At least FDA choose to publish their results, even though they buried the important conclusions. I half expected the FDA to loose the entire study.
  5. R

    Interesting: cigars and health

    Aw c'mon, man, you're gonna make me read? I'd much rather form my own opinions in a vacuum, unaffected by reason, logic or objective facts. :bag:
  6. R

    Interesting: cigars and health

    if you're saying cigars are healthy, I'm calling BS right now. There's many things I do in moderation because I enjoy them, accepting that there is an inherent risk. Cigars is one of those things.
  7. R

    destemming leaf the fast way

    They have slow Spanish and slow German. Perhaps someone will do slow cigar rolling :)
  8. R

    Cigar Molds Thread

    I occasionally haunt the antique stores in Lancaster county. before I was rolling I occasionally saw a vintage wood cigar mold or 2. I have a couple shapes I don't have. If I were to run across a mold that suited my size needs, what should I look for prior to purchase? I know: 1. there should...
  9. R

    destemming leaf the fast way

    He's pulling the stem out from the base. I suspect that only works for small thin leaves? when I have tried to pull in that direction ( because the chavetta didn't quite cut all the way through the side stem) it ended up pulling down the side stem.
  10. R

    destemming leaf the fast way

    Several of the videos I have seen of "professional" rollers in a factory environment de-stem their leaves by wrapping the leaf halves around one fist and the stem around the other.; I have not yet been brave enough to try that. I lay the leaf on the table tip pointing down and laboriously cut...
  11. R

    New Years resolution

    I don't look forward to an argument. I do enjoy an intellectual exchange of ideas. I find I always learn something new.
  12. R

    cigar shrinkage

    To clarify further: I case ALL my leaves the night before and place them In plastic bags ( one for filler, one for binder, one for wrapper) The filler has NOT been crackly, so I will see if I can use still less moisture on them and still be workable.
  13. R

    cigar shrinkage

    I am at the point that some of my sticks have been in the humidor for 45-60 days. When I rolled them fresh I placed a band on them to help remember which blend was which. Now some of the bands are very loose. A 56 RG stick has shrunk by as much as 3/16". Is that normal? Do the big boys age and...
  14. R

    New Years resolution

    Try the smallest baby food jar you can find. I bought 2 to have a spare. Got a strange look from my teens when they saw it in the cabinet. I just smiled.
  15. R

    New Years resolution

    I bought a plastic cutting board from walmart. 12"x18", $10.00 It won't impress the guys that buy 300 year old rolling boards from Nicaragua, but I'm not buyinbg equipment to impress anyone :)
  16. R

    New Years resolution

    And after you have rolled, wrapped and smoked about a dozen, look through the videos again. I was personally amazed at how much subtlety there was that I didn't pick up as a preroll virgin. You look again and say" cool, I do that little move nobody mentioned, and this is why"
  17. R

    Orbees inexpensive humidification beads

    Looks like something similar to this: https://www.amazon.com/Rainbow-Growing-Tactile-Sensory-Decoration/dp/B071W18C3X/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1515595806&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=water+beads&psc=1 I don't believe they are designed to maintain any particular RH, as are 2 way humidity devices such...
  18. R

    What's Your Challenge?

    If the stick is too big or too small, unwrap it and adjust the filler. You aren't gluing the binder, are you?
  19. R

    Blending Thread

    I understand the space constraints. I REFUSE to buy a third cooler for cigars. 2 plus a wood humidor is plenty enough, thank you very much. My mold holds 10 so that's what I roll of each blend. That gives me 2 for rott, 2 to share rott, and 6 to age for future sampling.
  20. R

    Blending Thread

    so your tasting process does not take aging into account?
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