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Christmas time.

I'm looking for a lurker on this roll-your-own forum who may want to try rolling their own for the first time. Sas been hanging round wondering, but who hasn't taken a leap at it. Brewin Hooligan and I will send you a kit for Christmas. I'll throw in filler, binder, and wrapper, along with some cigar glue. BrewinHooligan will throw in an ulu (which is, in truth, as good or better a knife for cutting tobacco leaves as is the official chavetta). You contribute a breadboard or some such to work on. Anyone here will gladly contribute how to advice and links to videos. All you have to do is try it out ... roll your own ... and then post some pics of your resultant sticks.

Who's up for a hobby?

 
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OK Moss Man, all packed up. I'll shoot you a tracking num tomorrow, but I want to tell you what I packed while I can still remember what's in there... and leave some simple instructions where people can find them.

You've got a wee jar with a dash of white powder in it. Don't snort that white power. First thing you do, fill the jar with water, stir up the powder, and let it set overnight. That's your glue. That stuff resists complete mixing; but the wee white boogers you can't get to mix, they will dissolve overnight.

Score a spritzer bottle round the house and fill it with water. Score a cutting board out of the kitchen, gives you a surface to work on.

You've got corojo and criollo viso filler here. Viso falls in between seco for aroma and ligero for strength. Should make a good base. Keeps blending simple. You have plenty Pennsylvania broadleaf for binder. These leaves are not my fave for flavor, but they are unbeatable for binder. Huge leaves ... you won't believe the size of them. One half ought to make a binder. Ginormous. The big advantage is this leaf is super strong. Should really help to compact a bunch. Then you have Habano 2000 for wrapper. Makes a smooth, tasty, fine colored outside. You can purpose some of the PA for wrapper if you want.

There should be enough baccy for 30 robustos easy. Do not roll jawbreaker mandingoes, cause nobody wants them, and they eat up leaves. Don't roll coronas cause they are harder to make smooth. Ordinary everyday robustos is the thing. Grab a robusto out of your humidor and get a good feel for it before you start. Gauge the length of it in your palm, too. You want your bunch about an inch longer than what you have there. Two or two and a half leaves of viso should be enough for one robusto like this.

You use your filler and binder leaves just the way they came. Your wrapper must be prepared. You take a wrapper leaf out, you spread it out a bit, you spritz noth sides with a water spritzer, you put it in a bag or tupperware. Let it set an hour or two.

Ready. So what you do is, you cut the stem out of a PA binder leaf using BH's ulu. You don't slice it -- you roll the blade over the leaf to cut it. Like cutting pizza. Now you stretch out the leaf, working the wrinkles out of it, and lay it on your board. Leaf underside surface (veins more prominent) faces the ceiling. Leaf upper side (smoother) faces the table. Pointy end of the leaf toward you; stem end away. Lay it oblique so that the veins are perpendicular to you. Your outer edge of the leaf should be away from you.

Now take 2 or 2 1/2 leaves of your viso & pinch out the stems. Loosely roll a half leaf in your left hand with the pointy end going down, sticking out past your palm an inch. That's gonna be your foot. Pinch the top half leaf off where it comes up by your thumb. That's gonna be your head. Draw the part you pinched off down to your foot. See? Now you have a npointy bit and a wide bit at the foot, and likewise a narrower bit and a fatter bit at the head. This ought to make things tend to stay even. Right? If there's any excess sticking out at the head, pinch that off and lay it aside. Repeat this method for each half leaf. Now feel the bunch in your palm. Got one end fatter than the other? Tuck the pinches you laid aside in between the other leaves there. Got voids elsewhere? Tuck in some pinches. Got excess sticking out? Pinch it off. Got sniggly bits? Pinch them off. Now feel your bunch. Should feel even and should have robusto bulk. If it doesn't, make it right.

You with me so far?

Feels right? Time to bind it. Lay the foot of your leaves on the closest end of your binder parallel with the veins there, and start wrapping your binder away from you round your leaves. Spread the leaf with your free hand from time to time as you go; but never ever let go of your bunch. Make sure your new cigar lays parallel to your binder veins. Don't let your bunch twist on you. Your leaves have to rotate at the same rate as your binder wraps round them. Tighten up with your fingertips as you go. Once your binder spirals round your filler all the way to the head, pick it up, holding that head tight so your binder doesn't unroll. Give it a feel. Feel loose? You should still have enough binder to give it a second go if you want. Have some places feel like voids? Don't be afraid to unroll and lay some new pinches in there, and go binding all over again. Breaking your binder? Means you're binding too hard. Don't try to get as hard as a store stick here. Good to go? Since you don't have a mold, well, a lot of guys at this point roll their bumch up in newspaper or magazine. If not, a touch of glue will hold your binder at the head. Me, I just lay the bound head under a paperweight and turn to the wrapper at this point.

Lay your damp wrapper on the cutting board folded in half along the big stem. Cut alongside the stem end to end so that you now have two big half leaves. Pick out the half leaf that's got veins oriented the same direction your binder veins went. In other words, if your binder half leaf had veins from stem to outer edge going right to left, then your wrapper leaf laid the same ought to likewise. Got it? Maybe someone can draw you a picture here. Put the other half back in the bag. Spritz your cuttinhg board thoroughly. Lay your wrapper on that damp just like you laid out the binder... except you have to take the time to work out all the wrinkles you can. Especially the leaf edge needs to be stretched out. Invest the time here. Again, let it set. You could lay a damp dish towel on it and go get a snack. I like to lay my wrapper out on a one by two foot tile I scored at Home Despot, then laymy bamboo cutting board over it here. Give it a few to relax on your boaard. Now uncover it and stretch it flat as you can. Cut a straight clean edge near the leaf edge. You will need I dunno nine or ten inches straight. Cut a parallel edge maybe three inches from that. Now you have a three inch wide ribbon of wrapper. Your coarsest veins have been removed. Veins are toward the ceiling. Veins are going right to left. It lays oblique. So. Wrap.

Foot of your bunch at the foot of the leaf. Rolling away from you. Stretching the wrapper with your left hand while you roll away from you with your right. Once you get to the head, dab some glue on your wrapper, wrap the rest of the way. Snip each end with your cigar cutter. Dry off your work board. Roll your cigar on that hard surface to smooth it. No, you don't have to round the head and cap it. Get a nice straight cigar first, and worry about capping some other day. Set it aside to dry. As it dries, your wrapper will shrink and the business will tighten. Be sure to pick it up and admire it six or eight times while it dries. Demonstrate your skill to your old lady. Shrug it off when she rolls her eyes.

Take a pic and post it here.
Smoke it tomorrow.
 
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Do not roll jawbreaker mandingoes, cause nobody wants them, and they eat up leaves.

Be sure to pick it up and admire it six or eight times while it dries. Demonstrate your skill to your old lady. Shrug it off when she rolls her eyes.

Take a pic and post it here.
Smoke it tomorrow.
The most important instructions here!!

Seriously though, all excellent instructions. I was rolling for almost a year before I started doing true caps. I would leave a little excess wrapper and twist to make a kind of fan tail using the glue. Making your bunch is the most important part imo, that is what dictates how the whole cigar will smoke. If you plan to stick with the hobby, you will want to keep a few of your first sticks to look at and compare as you improve. It's fun to watch your progress as you go along. Definitely post whore and show us what you are doing and most of all, enjoy it.
 
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Christmas time.

I'm looking for a lurker on this roll-your-own forum who may want to try rolling their own for the first time. Sas been hanging round wondering, but who hasn't taken a leap at it. Brewin Hooligan and I will send you a kit for Christmas. I'll throw in filler, binder, and wrapper, along with some cigar glue. BrewinHooligan will throw in an ulu (which is, in truth, as good or better a knife for cutting tobacco leaves as is the official chavetta). You contribute a breadboard or some such to work on. Anyone here will gladly contribute how to advice and links to videos. All you have to do is try it out ... roll your own ... and then post some pics of your resultant sticks.

Who's up for a hobby?

How coooooool of a post!!
 
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OK Moss Man, all packed up. I'll shoot you a tracking num tomorrow, but I want to tell you what I packed while I can still remember what's in there... and leave some simple instructions where people can find them.

You've got a wee jar with a dash of white powder in it. Don't snort that white power. First thing you do, fill the jar with water, stir up the powder, and let it set overnight. That's your glue. That stuff resists complete mixing; but the wee white boogers you can't get to mix, they will dissolve overnight.

Score a spritzer bottle round the house and fill it with water. Score a cutting board out of the kitchen, gives you a surface to work on.

You've got corojo and criollo viso filler here. Viso falls in between seco for aroma and ligero for strength. Should make a good base. Keeps blending simple. You have plenty Pennsylvania broadleaf for binder. These leaves are not my fave for flavor, but they are unbeatable for binder. Huge leaves ... you won't believe the size of them. One half ought to make a binder. Ginormous. The big advantage is this leaf is super strong. Should really help to compact a bunch. Then you have Habano 2000 for wrapper. Makes a smooth, tasty, fine colored outside. You can purpose some of the PA for wrapper if you want.

There should be enough baccy for 30 robustos easy. Do not roll jawbreaker mandingoes, cause nobody wants them, and they eat up leaves. Don't roll coronas cause they are harder to make smooth. Ordinary everyday robustos is the thing. Grab a robusto out of your humidor and get a good feel for it before you start. Gauge the length of it in your palm, too. You want your bunch about an inch longer than what you have there. Two or two and a half leaves of viso should be enough for one robusto like this.

You use your filler and binder leaves just the way they came. Your wrapper must be prepared. You take a wrapper leaf out, you spread it out a bit, you spritz noth sides with a water spritzer, you put it in a bag or tupperware. Let it set an hour or two.

Ready. So what you do is, you cut the stem out of a PA binder leaf using BH's ulu. You don't slice it -- you roll the blade over the leaf to cut it. Like cutting pizza. Now you stretch out the leaf, working the wrinkles out of it, and lay it on your board. Leaf underside surface (veins more prominent) faces the ceiling. Leaf upper side (smoother) faces the table. Pointy end of the leaf toward you; stem end away. Lay it oblique so that the veins are perpendicular to you. Your outer edge of the leaf should be away from you.

Now take 2 or 2 1/2 leaves of your viso & pinch out the stems. Loosely roll a half leaf in your left hand with the pointy end going down, sticking out past your palm an inch. That's gonna be your foot. Pinch the top half leaf off where it comes up by your thumb. That's gonna be your head. Draw the part you pinched off down to your foot. See? Now you have a npointy bit and a wide bit at the foot, and likewise a narrower bit and a fatter bit at the head. This ought to make things tend to stay even. Right? If there's any excess sticking out at the head, pinch that off and lay it aside. Repeat this method for each half leaf. Now feel the bunch in your palm. Got one end fatter than the other? Tuck the pinches you laid aside in between the other leaves there. Got voids elsewhere? Tuck in some pinches. Got excess sticking out? Pinch it off. Got sniggly bits? Pinch them off. Now feel your bunch. Should feel even and should have robusto bulk. If it doesn't, make it right.

You with me so far?

Feels right? Time to bind it. Lay the foot of your leaves on the closest end of your binder parallel with the veins there, and start wrapping your binder away from you round your leaves. Spread the leaf with your free hand from time to time as you go; but never ever let go of your bunch. Make sure your new cigar lays parallel to your binder veins. Don't let your bunch twist on you. Your leaves have to rotate at the same rate as your binder wraps round them. Tighten up with your fingertips as you go. Once your binder spirals round your filler all the way to the head, pick it up, holding that head tight so your binder doesn't unroll. Give it a feel. Feel loose? You should still have enough binder to give it a second go if you want. Have some places feel like voids? Don't be afraid to unroll and lay some new pinches in there, and go binding all over again. Breaking your binder? Means you're binding too hard. Don't try to get as hard as a store stick here. Good to go? Since you don't have a mold, well, a lot of guys at this point roll their bumch up in newspaper or magazine. If not, a touch of glue will hold your binder at the head. Me, I just lay the bound head under a paperweight and turn to the wrapper at this point.

Lay your damp wrapper on the cutting board folded in half along the big stem. Cut alongside the stem end to end so that you now have two big half leaves. Pick out the half leaf that's got veins oriented the same direction your binder veins went. In other words, if your binder half leaf had veins from stem to outer edge going right to left, then your wrapper leaf laid the same ought to likewise. Got it? Maybe someone can draw you a picture here. Put the other half back in the bag. Spritz your cuttinhg board thoroughly. Lay your wrapper on that damp just like you laid out the binder... except you have to take the time to work out all the wrinkles you can. Especially the leaf edge needs to be stretched out. Invest the time here. Again, let it set. You could lay a damp dish towel on it and go get a snack. I like to lay my wrapper out on a one by two foot tile I scored at Home Despot, then laymy bamboo cutting board over it here. Give it a few to relax on your boaard. Now uncover it and stretch it flat as you can. Cut a straight clean edge near the leaf edge. You will need I dunno nine or ten inches straight. Cut a parallel edge maybe three inches from that. Now you have a three inch wide ribbon of wrapper. Your coarsest veins have been removed. Veins are toward the ceiling. Veins are going right to left. It lays oblique. So. Wrap.

Foot of your bunch at the foot of the leaf. Rolling away from you. Stretching the wrapper with your left hand while you roll away from you with your right. Once you get to the head, dab some glue on your wrapper, wrap the rest of the way. Snip each end with your cigar cutter. Dry off your work board. Roll your cigar on that hard surface to smooth it. No, you don't have to round the head and cap it. Get a nice straight cigar first, and worry about capping some other day. Set it aside to dry. As it dries, your wrapper will shrink and the business will tighten. Be sure to pick it up and admire it six or eight times while it dries. Demonstrate your skill to your old lady. Shrug it off when she rolls her eyes.

Take a pic and post it here.
Smoke it tomorrow.
The most important instructions here!!

Seriously though, all excellent instructions. I was rolling for almost a year before I started doing true caps. I would leave a little excess wrapper and twist to make a kind of fan tail using the glue. Making your bunch is the most important part imo, that is what dictates how the whole cigar will smoke. If you plan to stick with the hobby, you will want to keep a few of your first sticks to look at and compare as you improve. It's fun to watch your progress as you go along. Definitely post whore and show us what you are doing and most of all, enjoy it.
Thanks guys. I spent some time yesterday, and quite a bit of today watching cigar rolling videos, and I've got to say, I'm kinda stoked about it. I'll be sure to keep everyone updated with my progress. Thanks again for doing this.
 
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