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Looks good. I haven't attempted capping yet. Are you using a special tool?
Just the the round copper set leaf only sells. It just cuts a little circle. Is the set worth 10 bucks meh it's up to you because heck they just cut little circles

In one of web's videos he uses a little piece of pipe he sharpened.

It seems like a simple concept but will really take a while to get the feel.

It's only been a couple weeks but man has this been a hell of an adventure.
 
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Another try.

Side note my wlt Dominican binder is super funky. I know I have read about the ammonia funk but wow man this is potent.

Do I just need to let it breathe and air out a while or is it good to go.
For leaf that is heavy in ammonia you need to let it air out. Sounds like wlt has managed to kick off a pretty healthy fermentation on their Dominican binder.
 
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For leaf that is heavy in ammonia you need to let it air out. Sounds like wlt has managed to kick off a pretty healthy fermentation on their Dominican binder.
Nice thanks brother. It was a lot stronger than I even imagined hahah
I left it out accidentally anyway and it wasn't so bad this morning but it was still funking up the whole room.

Is this the sort of thing you would use your pineapple concoction for?

There was a video on here one time where the guys would have like chopped up pineapples and rum and little rum for yourself and give the leaves a little bath while they were hanging up.
 
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Nice thanks brother. It was a lot stronger than I even imagined hahah
I left it out accidentally anyway and it wasn't so bad this morning but it was still funking up the whole room.

Is this the sort of thing you would use your pineapple concoction for?

There was a video on here one time where the guys would have like chopped up pineapples and rum and little rum for yourself and give the leaves a little bath while they were hanging up.
Ammonia is a natural byproduct of the leaf fermenting. It will dissipate naturally. If you roll with that leaf without airing it out you will just have to let the sticks sit several months before smoking to avoid off flavors. The ammonia is actually a good thing though. The fermentation means the leaf is becoming better than it originally was. I know its extremely hard when you are just starting to roll, but when it comes to the rolling game, you gotta be patient. I spend more time prepping and aging than I do rolling. Eventually you get to a point where you have enough rolled that it isn't a problem, but you have to roll way more than you smoke and give away for that to happen.
 
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Ammonia is a natural byproduct of the leaf fermenting. It will dissipate naturally. If you roll with that leaf without airing it out you will just have to let the sticks sit several months before smoking to avoid off flavors. The ammonia is actually a good thing though. The fermentation means the leaf is becoming better than it originally was. I know its extremely hard when you are just starting to roll, but when it comes to the rolling game, you gotta be patient. I spend more time prepping and aging than I do rolling. Eventually you get to a point where you have enough rolled that it isn't a problem, but you have to roll way more than you smoke and give away for that to happen.
Awesome advice man. I appreciate the encouragement. Patience has been a hard to learn lesson my whole life. Rolling way more was part of the plan.
Prepping and aging that was a different story... that's a lesson unto itself.
I knew last night I had not prepped enough for wrapping but couldn't resist.
 
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View attachment 100936

Remembered to put a flag thanks Gdaddy

View attachment 100937

Made it smaller like you said and remembered the flag. Looks a lot better today.

Huge difference this go around.

Thanks
Looks much better! When you wrap the flag around the cigar you can add a little tension to it as you roll it making it tighter and cleaner. Caps come in different sizes depending on the ring size of the cigar. Your local plumbing supply has copper elbows that are perfect with a different size at each end. Small cigar uses a small cap. Kinda makes sense. :)
 
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The cap is on the cigar is for no other reason than to give it a finished look. Purely decorative. After all, you cut it off to smoke the cigar or you cut most of it off. So many times there is a small ring of the cap remaining that eventually comes off and gets caught in your mouth and you have to pick it or spit it out.

I've had many commercial cigars come loose and distract from my smoking pleasure. (like my $10 Warped cigar did two nights ago :mad:) Not only did the remains of the cap come off but the flag began to unravel as well. Why? Did they not use a strong glue or not enough glue or big enough flag? It sure looked nice but it didn't perform well.

Putting tradition aside, my goal was to make cigars that didn't come apart. Using the longest flag possible I shoot for twice around the circumference and wider than usual. Many flags are traditionally made shallow for the sake of appearance. Since I wanted the cigar wrapper to remain connected I opt for a deeper flag and using the strongest glue I could find. In a scientific test they discovered gum tragacanth to be the strongest by a pretty wide margin. For example, 10 times stronger than gum arabic. ( also tasteless and colorless)

Most cigars I do for myself are finished in a nice pigtail. Cut'em, smoke'em and they stay intact and NEVER unravel No need for the cap as it does nothing. Really.
 
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The cap is on the cigar is for no other reason than to give it a finished look. Purely decorative. After all, you cut it off to smoke the cigar or you cut most of it off. So many times there is a small ring of the cap remaining that eventually comes off and gets caught in your mouth and you have to pick it or spit it out.

I've had many commercial cigars come loose and distract from my smoking pleasure. (like my $10 Warped cigar did two nights ago :mad:) Not only did the remains of the cap come off but the flag began to unravel as well. Why? Did they not use a strong glue or not enough glue or big enough flag? It sure looked nice but it didn't perform well.

Putting tradition aside, my goal was to make cigars that didn't come apart. Using the longest flag possible I shoot for twice around the circumference and wider than usual. Many flags are traditionally made shallow for the sake of appearance. Since I wanted the cigar wrapper to remain connected I opt for a deeper flag and using the strongest glue I could find. In a scientific test they discovered gum tragacanth to be the strongest by a pretty wide margin. For example, 10 times stronger than gum arabic. ( also tasteless and colorless)

Most cigars I do for myself are finished in a nice pigtail. Cut'em, smoke'em and they stay intact and NEVER unravel No need for the cap as it does nothing. Really.
Nice that is awesome. I also don't feel so bad about all my pigtails in the beginning Those were just for practicing and smoking.

I guess I was just getting so obsessed with capping because you guys roll some damn gorgeous cigars. Setting the standard pretty high to shoot for. And that's not a bad thing.

Thanks for all the advice on this. I will post some more of my practice over the weekend. I am planning on goin on a cigar warpath this weekend.

I will try to make sure the flag goes twice on the next batch. It felt so much better just the way the last ones went on I have high hopes for tonight's batch.
 
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