Cigar Molds Thread

[Gdaddy]

If only I could print a tuck cutter I'd have everything I need.

You don't need a tuck cutter. It doesn't make a better cigar. It's only function is to make every cigar the exact same length. That's it. In a high production factory it's important and speeds the process for the professional. Unless you have a need to make all your cigars the same length your money is better spent on tobacco. A simple guillotine cutter makes just as nice a cut. Also, If you don't have a length requirement why would you cut off/remove good smokable tobacco? I smoke them the way they are born.

 

[webmost]

I'd almost be afraid to hear these guys' answers. These are the people who advised someone to use their Havana-7 leaf (a CT Broadleaf) to make a "Cuban-style" cigar. Because, you know. It's got the word Havana in it.

That's funny right there.

I have some of the CT habano. Nice for binder.

 

[keithjjones]

How do you all get the head nice and round from a mold? Mine tend to be.. mushy and uneven? Not mushy as in wet, but as in not as strong as the rest of the body. I've tried a bunch of ways... from bringing the binder up and twisting it into a pigtail and cutting a pigtail before putting it in the mold to cutting it straight then rounding it slightly using Bliss's technique in his Youtube videos before putting it in the mold. Each method just doesn't seem to make much of a round head for me. A commercial cigar tends to be very firm through the body through the head. I can't seem to get even close enough where I wouldn't be embarrassed to show someone else my work.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

How do you all get the head nice and round from a mold? Mine tend to be.. mushy and uneven? Not mushy as in wet, but as in not as strong as the rest of the body. I've tried a bunch of ways... from bringing the binder up and twisting it into a pigtail and cutting a pigtail before putting it in the mold to cutting it straight then rounding it slightly using Bliss's technique in his Youtube videos before putting it in the mold. Each method just doesn't seem to make much of a round head for me. A commercial cigar tends to be very firm through the body through the head. I can't seem to get even close enough where I wouldn't be embarrassed to show someone else my work.

Well, I know you said you don't have many sticks under your belt so I will first say practice. The fill on the head of the stick can be tricky. I don't really trim down the head, I just jam it as far into the mold as I can and let the mold form the shape but I'm primarily rolling 44rg and smaller sticks where this method works best. If you're rolling larger ring gauges this method is less effective and you are going to have to trim in order to round off the head. I've seen videos of buncheros and or torcedors using sharp scissors or shears to shape the head of the cigar. If you find that the head of your cigars are consistently soft after drying then you are under filling and you will want to add more filler to your bunch to remedy that.

 

[blisscigarco]

How do you all get the head nice and round from a mold?

That's a great question. In my case there are two considerations. One is the "from the mold" part, and the other is the "ultimately" part.

First, when you're laying in the torn-off tail bits to fill out the shape of the bunch in your hand, over-stuff the head somewhat, at least in terms of your perceptions. Tear off the tail and lay a good chunk of that into the head. Like twice as much as you're doing now, since now you're ending up mushy. This area tends to be the most likely to end up understuffed; and unlike the foot, you can't just tuck-cut the under-filled part away later. So bias towards overstuffing the head rather than understuffing. Easier to pull something out with tweezers later if you went crazy and made it 6 rings bigger than the body of the stick than it is to try to add something in later.

The second part is that some % of that round head comes from the wrapping and capping stages rather than the bunching. With wrapping and capping you're adding mass to that area, and certain techniques will allow you to lay that new leaf down in a way that tends towards a dome.

Not only do I trim my bunch before sticking it in the mold, but I trim the head again with scissors before I wrap, to make sure it is smooth and round with no extra ridges near the head from the bunching process. It's possible to mess up your draw a little bit if you're too liberal with the scissors at this point, but there's still room to work. You can safely concentrate on the dome more than on the draw; the draw is not likely to get screwed up unless you really go crazy. For one thing, the wrapper will act as sort of a flat-tire patch to the draw.

I hope this helps!

 

[keithjjones]

That's a great question. In my case there are two considerations. One is the "from the mold" part, and the other is the "ultimately" part.

First, when you're laying in the torn-off tail bits to fill out the shape of the bunch in your hand, over-stuff the head somewhat, at least in terms of your perceptions. Tear off the tail, flip it, and lay a good chunk of that into the head. Like twice as much as you're doing now, since now you're ending up mushy. This area tends to be the most likely to end up understuffed; and unlike the foot, you can't just tuck-cut the under-filled part away later. So bias towards overstuffing the head rather than understuffing. Easier to pull something out with tweezers later if you went crazy and made it 6 rings bigger than the body of the stick than it is to try to add something in later.

The second part is that some % of that round head comes from the wrapping and capping stages rather than the bunching. With wrapping and capping you're adding mass to that area, and certain techniques will allow you to lay that new leaf down in a way that tends towards a dome.

Not only do I trim my bunch before sticking it in the mold, but I trim the head again with scissors before I wrap, to make sure it is smooth and round with no extra ridges near the head from the bunching process. It's possible to mess up you're draw little bit if you're too liberal with the scissors at this point, but there's still room to work. You can safely concentrate on the dome more than on the draw; the draw is not likely to get screwed up unless you really go crazy. For one thing, the wrapper will act as sort of a flat-tire patch to the draw.

I hope this helps!

Yes both of the posts above are super helpful, thank you!

 

[webmost]

How do you all get the head nice and round ...?

Trim before molding
Flag before capping.

 

[keithjjones]

Packing a little extra and trimming seemed to help a lot. Now I got to start working on my blend. The tests I've tried feels like it is missing something, like spice. It reminds me of soda missing the carbonation.

I printed out a 44 ring, 8 stick mold this week and it worked great. 8 sticks is my printer's limit. It took almost 48 hours.

 

[blisscigarco]

Packing a little extra and trimming seemed to help a lot. Now I got to start working on my blend. The tests I've tried feels like it is missing something, like spice. It reminds me of soda missing the carbonation.

I printed out a 44 ring, 8 stick mold this week and it worked great. 8 sticks is my printer's limit. It took almost 48 hours.

Congrats on the success of your 8-stick 44rg! That's extremely awesome.
I probably can't suggest anything brilliant about that spice, but I'm curious about the general contents of your flat soda blends so far...

 

[keithjjones]

Congrats on the success of your 8-stick 44rg! That's extremely awesome.
I probably can't suggest anything brilliant about that spice, but I'm curious about the general contents of your flat soda blends so far...

Varying mixtures of Nicaragua Seco, viso, and ligero. Pa binder. Pa oscuro wrapper.

 

[blisscigarco]

Varying mixtures of Nicaragua Seco, viso, and ligero. Pa binder. Pa oscuro wrapper.

That Nica filler is all LO?

 

[keithjjones]

That Nica filler is all LO?

Yes. I also got combos from WL so I could try a bunch of flavors to see what I like.

 

[blisscigarco]

Yes. I also got combos from WL so I could try a bunch of flavors to see what I like.

I think one example of the many spice experts here is @BrewinHooligan , and he might know if I'm off my rocker suggesting some WLT Corojo of some variety, maybe a viso. Typically spice will come from a wrapper, too. Your PA wrapper's got none, but there are plenty that do. They typically don't burn for crap, but they are spicy. I usually avoid them because of the lack of burn. WLT Corojo Oscuro being one such example...

 

[keithjjones]

I think one example of the many spice experts here is @BrewinHooligan , and he might know if I'm off my rocker suggesting some WLT Corojo of some variety, maybe a viso. Typically spice will come from a wrapper, too. Your PA wrapper's got none, but there are plenty that do. They typically don't burn for crap, but they are spicy. I usually avoid them because of the lack of burn. WLT Corojo Oscuro being one such example...

I also picked up some Nica binder, Brazilian viso, and ct Maduro to see if any of those combinations help.
I also haven't really aged anything. I've tested them 2-3 weeks after rolling just to get a general flavor reading. 1 week to dry and 1-2 weeks in a humidor.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I think one example of the many spice experts here is @BrewinHooligan , and he might know if I'm off my rocker suggesting some WLT Corojo of some variety, maybe a viso. Typically spice will come from a wrapper, too. Your PA wrapper's got none, but there are plenty that do. They typically don't burn for crap, but they are spicy. I usually avoid them because of the lack of burn. WLT Corojo Oscuro being one such example...

Not insane at all. Some combo of corojo/criollo should add a little zip. If you have some San Andrés wrapper that usually has some nice spice.

 

[keithjjones]

Not insane at all. Some combo of corojo/criollo should add a little zip. If you have some San Andrés wrapper that usually has some nice spice.

San Andres was next on my list actually!

 

[keithjjones]

I printed off the Work of Art last night. Pic attached.

 

[Hopduro]

I printed off the Work of Art last night. Pic attached.

Holy shit!!!!!

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

 

[blisscigarco]

I printed off the Work of Art last night. Pic attached.

That looks amazing. Great job! I now believe 3D printing is real.

 

[keithjjones]

That looks amazing. Great job! I now believe 3D printing is real.

Yup, like I said, I can pretty much cut any bunch if I have dimensions.