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So, been without wrapper for awhile now. Hoping to score something off Codio next month or maybe something off Webmost whenever. Meanwhile got some new filler, that corojo seco and some Dominican ligero from WLT and needed to get up to speed on those, in combo with the WLT Nica Habano Seco I like to use as a binder. So been smoking unwrapped blends in lots of combos, from pure Corojo seco to pure Dom ligero. Typically about halfway through a smoke I tear away the binder so I'm just smoking the filler--surprisingly with no draw issues. Man, I'll tell you what, you learn so much about your leaves and the weirdness/magic of blending this way. You learn what your binder brings (maybe a lot more than you realize), all kinds of crazy shit. You learn that blending is not additive, but more combinatorial: you can put "pepper" together with "leather," and end up with "smooth cocoa," with no notes of leather or pepper! Crazy AF. Or, e.g. a seco with minimal flavor and big strength multiplies the specific aroma of the ligero rather than diminishing it, even though the seco doesn't burn as well as the ligero! So yeah, I'd totally recommend this kind of process. The clarity you gain from it is a real pleasure. Here's some random snaps from my test sessions.



 
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This one turned out pretty nice...
When I saw the attachment file name "dp.jpg" I thot for a moment "Did I wander onto the wrong forum again?"

These figurados have tapered ends; but the barrels have parallel sides. How much trouble is it to make them swell out and back in, in a smooth oval?

Have you seen this: http://www.diymagicmachine.com/vsl/index.php ? I wonder what a guy could make with that?
 
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So, been without wrapper for awhile now. Hoping to score something off Codio next month or maybe something off Webmost whenever.


Yeah, my bad. Wanted to include some WLT Dom seco with it, but that's been hung up in customs since whenever. I'll shoot off what I have tomorrow and forget about the seco.
 
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When I saw the attachment file name "dp.jpg" I thot for a moment "Did I wander onto the wrong forum again?"

These figurados have tapered ends; but the barrels have parallel sides. How much trouble is it to make them swell out and back in, in a smooth oval?

Have you seen this: http://www.diymagicmachine.com/vsl/index.php ? I wonder what a guy could make with that?
Yeah, this shape was modeled after the double Perfecto Gurkha centurian. The cigars actually come out without the parallel shape because of the wrapper. There is no bump. Even without the wrapper there wasn't a bump. I suppose I could make it completely round in the mold with bezier curves, but that's a pain (you have to get it just right) when this works for me already. I used curves for the Hemingway I posted a while back.

That CNC is similar to my CNC project. I have everything but I need to hook up my version 2 electronics. The old parallel port version sucks, which is 99% of the CNC world. My version is moving to USB and a network server I can run from 3 floors up. With work, grad school, and kids I haven't worked on it much. Not a ton of incentive since I can print anything I want on my 3d printer for the time being, and it is 1000% less messy. If anything, I want to get it working so I can etch custom pc boards.

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Yeah, this shape was modeled after the double Perfecto Gurkha centurian. The cigars actually come out without the parallel shape because of the wrapper. There is no bump. Even without the wrapper there wasn't a bump. I suppose I could make it completely round in the mold with bezier curves, but that's a pain (you have to get it just right) when this works for me already. I used curves for the Hemingway I posted a while back.

That CNC is similar to my CNC project. I have everything but I need to hook up my version 2 electronics. The old parallel port version sucks, which is 99% of the CNC world. My version is moving to USB and a network server I can run from 3 floors up. With work, grad school, and kids I haven't worked on it much. Not a ton of incentive since I can print anything I want on my 3d printer for the time being, and it is 1000% less messy. If anything, I want to get it working so I can etch custom pc boards.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
Parallel port! Holy crap! That takes me back!

Don't know where I'd find a puter with a parallel port, at this point. We have two states which insist on sending us data via CD. Have one old derelict round the office with a CD just for that purpose. Could be worse. Up until a few years ago, we had a project where Medicare sent us data on tape drive. Had to tote the tapes to a converter shop.

Today's new wave is tomorrow's dinosaur.
 
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Parallel port! Holy crap! That takes me back!

Don't know where I'd find a puter with a parallel port, at this point. We have two states which insist on sending us data via CD. Have one old derelict round the office with a CD just for that purpose. Could be worse. Up until a few years ago, we had a project where Medicare sent us data on tape drive. Had to tote the tapes to a converter shop.

Today's new wave is tomorrow's dinosaur.
Yeah. A lot of hospitals run XP too because they have to for patient records.

My rig has a grbl shield for the Arduino and I'm going to control it with a rasperry pi and chilipeppr, by the time I'm done. Don't know why the world still use parallel ports for those rigs.

I'm kind of a computer and electronics nerd outside cigars.




Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
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Parallel port! Holy crap! That takes me back!

Don't know where I'd find a puter with a parallel port, at this point. We have two states which insist on sending us data via CD. Have one old derelict round the office with a CD just for that purpose. Could be worse. Up until a few years ago, we had a project where Medicare sent us data on tape drive. Had to tote the tapes to a converter shop.

Today's new wave is tomorrow's dinosaur.
A thinline external USB CDROM/DVD burner/reader costs $18.89 at Best Buy, if you ever need the space or the dino goes tits up.
 
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Bliss, goddammit, here I am with your box packed up and I cannot lay hands on your address. Why do I lose that thing each and every time I need it? I have this new USPS shipping account. I swear I will put your addy in the addy book there so's I don't have to go searching for old message posts which I cannot stinkin find. Shoot me a PM w/ your shipping address toot sweet, will ya?

Sorry.
 
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So, been without wrapper for awhile now. Hoping to score something off Codio next month or maybe something off Webmost whenever. Meanwhile got some new filler, that corojo seco and some Dominican ligero from WLT and needed to get up to speed on those, in combo with the WLT Nica Habano Seco I like to use as a binder. So been smoking unwrapped blends in lots of combos, from pure Corojo seco to pure Dom ligero. Typically about halfway through a smoke I tear away the binder so I'm just smoking the filler--surprisingly with no draw issues. Man, I'll tell you what, you learn so much about your leaves and the weirdness/magic of blending this way. You learn what your binder brings (maybe a lot more than you realize), all kinds of crazy shit. You learn that blending is not additive, but more combinatorial: you can put "pepper" together with "leather," and end up with "smooth cocoa," with no notes of leather or pepper! Crazy AF. Or, e.g. a seco with minimal flavor and big strength multiplies the specific aroma of the ligero rather than diminishing it, even though the seco doesn't burn as well as the ligero! So yeah, I'd totally recommend this kind of process. The clarity you gain from it is a real pleasure. Here's some random snaps from my test sessions.



Funny you mention this. I have had similar experience with burning leaf solo vs blended. You don't know how it will play in a mix until it's in the mix so I don't bother burning cheroots anymore unless it's of a blend I think I want to try. Just because leaf a tastes one way and leaf b tastes another doesn't mean a plus b is going to equal c. Throw a wrapper on that filler and your whole perceived notion of that filler combo can be shot to hell as well. My process is usually to fill a mold with a new blend, wrap in a variety of wrappers and test after they rest a few months. After almost 60 different filler blends and probably close to 10 different wrappers I have about 8 blends worth repeating consistently.
 
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Funny you mention this. I have had similar experience with burning leaf solo vs blended. You don't know how it will play in a mix until it's in the mix so I don't bother burning cheroots anymore unless it's of a blend I think I want to try. Just because leaf a tastes one way and leaf b tastes another doesn't mean a plus b is going to equal c. Throw a wrapper on that filler and your whole perceived notion of that filler combo can be shot to hell as well. My process is usually to fill a mold with a new blend, wrap in a variety of wrappers and test after they rest a few months. After almost 60 different filler blends and probably close to 10 different wrappers I have about 8 blends worth repeating consistently.
Yeah, this is the process I've used these last years. But despite the fact that a+b doesn't seem to sum up to a+b, it's still fascinating just to learn that empirically. Also, it's nice to start with the minimal combos--mixes of either 1 or 2 leaves--and attempt to build from there, and see how easy it is to step sideways or backwards. One thing I can say, it's an economical method, time-wise and financially. You get a smoke or two a day out of a couple leaves instead of 4 or 5...
 
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