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home-made cigar molds,?????

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Chicken

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ive been thinking of cutting a p.v.c. pipe in half for a cigar mold,

anyone have,,, or tried things that you made for a mold,,, with sucess,??
 

Jitterbugdude

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I have 3 different "real" cigar molds. They are nice but over the years I've come to really like real hand rolled (no mold) cigars.
 

BarG

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I considered making one until I started researching them and studying pictures, the best ones in my opinion seem to offer some flexibility in the mating parts{built in such a way that one of the mating parts compresses into other half of mold as pressure is applied. I have put that on a back burner unless I had a market for to mass produce econmicaly. I've gotten halfway decent at hand rolling my cigars and like the satisfaction it gives. I'm real interested in building me a humidor big enough to hang a pound or 2 with the humidifier and hygrometer, so my personal rolling stash for the month will always be in proper case. I already have the spanish cedar for the interior and plan on using spalted hackberry for exterior. When I get around to building mine I will see if practical {price wise} to offer same design for sale. I've done some research on these also and will be hard to be competitive price wise.
 

Jitterbugdude

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I already have the spanish cedar for the interior and plan on using spalted hackberry for exterior. .

Why Spanish Cedar? I made that mistake years ago. Traditionally, it is true that cigars are stored in cedar but I think that is for two reasons. One, cedar is known to kill insects, so I think it is used naturally to keep your cigars free of bugs. Second, I think the smell that permeates throughtout the cigar gives it uniformity, ie, last year's batch tastes like this year's batch. Personally, I would never put MY homegrown cigars in a humidor with cedar. I want to be able to smell and taste the unique characteristics of my tobacco!
 

FmGrowit

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I've been a carpenter for almost 30 years and I'd never even attempt make a cigar mold. You'd have to make jigs for every part and cut everything on a shaper. Your first mold would take a month to make, but the second one would take a few hours.


cigar mold.jpg 4454465212_438c1725f12.jpg cigar mold 2.jpg
 

FmGrowit

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Why Spanish Cedar? I think the smell that permeates throughtout the cigar gives it uniformityPersonally, I would never put MY homegrown cigars in a humidor with cedar. I want to be able to smell and taste the unique characteristics of my tobacco!

There are several types of cedar. Both types that grow in the US are the wrong type of cedar. I've smelled fresh Spanish cedar and I thought it was pretty neutral smelling. Northern white cedar, Eastern red cedar and especially Aromatic cedar all have the traditional "cedar" smell. Beech and Maple are pretty neutral smelling wood also. Charred Hickory might make an interesting humy.
 

Jitterbugdude

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My point is: If you are going for different blends in your cigar such as BS Samsun, Ottoman, Bursa etc, why alter the taste by allowing cedar to permeate your stogie? I love the smell of Spanish Cedar.. but not in my cigars.
 

FmGrowit

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I think someone might have mistakenly given you white cedar to smell and told you it was Spanish cedar. They look almost identical, but one smells like cedar and the other one doesn't. That's why all of the highest grade humidors are made with Spanish cedar....it has no smell to alter the taste of the cigars.

I went to the grocery store the other day and noticed in the fish case there were little tiny scallops (bay scallops) mixed in with the really big ones (sea scallops). I asked why they were mixed and the woman told me the little ones were sea scallops. I suggested they were mixed and she insisted they were sea scallops. I asked her how long she had worked the fish dept. and she replied "almost 20 years". I said "in 20 years you haven't learned the difference between a sea scallop and a bay scallop?" She said "Well, that's what the box said" I said " If the box said chicken wings, it would not make them chicken wings".
 

BarG

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Don't confuse eastern or western cedar {native USA with spanish}One of the reasons for spanish cedar is its ability to retain and release moisture without unpleasant odors or aromas. when you get a new humidor it should be seasoned first , cannot give specifics on process but essentialy wet it down real good and let set for a day or 2. another reason probably has to do with swelling and shrinking properties. I plan on lining interior with 1/4-1/2" resawn veneers with a nice exterior finish, as well as a fairly well fitting lid along with humidifier and hygrometer.
 

BarG

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I think someone might have mistakenly given you white cedar to smell and told you it was Spanish cedar. They look almost identical, but one smells like cedar and the other one doesn't. That's why all of the highest grade humidors are made with Spanish cedar....it has no smell to alter the taste of the cigars.

I went to the grocery store the other day and noticed in the fish case there were little tiny scallops (bay scallops) mixed in with the really big ones (sea scallops). I asked why they were mixed and the woman told me the little ones were sea scallops. I suggested they were mixed and she insisted they were sea scallops. I asked her how long she had worked the fish dept. and she replied "almost 20 years". I said "in 20 years you haven't learned the difference between a sea scallop and a bay scallop?" She said "Well, that's what the box said" I said " If the box said chicken wings, it would not make them chicken wings".
I've seen the same damn thing in my buisness.{20 years doing it wrong disregarding
hundreds of year old tried and true methods}
 
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Chicken

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im thinking of making a 6 cigar mold,,,,

using bamboo... a friend has a acre patch of it,,, in all different sizes,,,

not only will it look cool as hell,,,,

it will be funtional,,,,
 

BigBonner

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I have all kinds of red cedar here and I have some sawn up in lumber . It makes the best looking furniture and has a great aeromatic smell . It would probably make the cigars smell like the cedar .
I don't know but I would think that if you made a mold you would need to bake the mold in the oven to release the odors from about any wood .

A good friend gave me a mold . I made a few cigars with it for practice . The first one looked better than the others .
 

Chicken

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I have all kinds of red cedar here and I have some sawn up in lumber . It makes the best looking furniture and has a great aeromatic smell . It would probably make the cigars smell like the cedar .
I don't know but I would think that if you made a mold you would need to bake the mold in the oven to release the odors from about any wood .

A good friend gave me a mold . I made a few cigars with it for practice . The first one looked better than the others .

i got 2 empty wooden cigar boxes i keep my cut-up baccy in,

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sam0349j.jpg

By chickenhawk435 at 2011-11-22

///

they are both made out of cedar,,,

....
sam0041hy.jpg

By chickenhawk435 at 2011-09-18
 

johnlee1933

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I bought a cigar mold from John P on HTGT. By accident I ordered the wrong ring size so I made one of my own (the correct ring size this time : < ). I like 34 ring (1/2") so I used a 1/2" ball end mill. I routed parallel grooves in two pieces of maple. I lined up the two halves and routed them so that when I closed them like a book the grooves matched. It took two tries to get it right. John P used 5 1/4" bolts to close the press so I duplicated his plan. For me it wasn't fast enough and came apart hard. I then made two 1/4" thru holes and put 2 1/4" dowels in the lower half. The dowels now provide alignment. That let me open up the 1/4" holes in the top half so it comes apart easier. I purposely made the bolt pattern non symmetrical so the two halves go together only one way. I yields nice round symmetrical cigars.

All that said, if I were to do it again I'd go a slightly different (and more difficult to build) way. It is hard to describe so if you want more info PM me with your phone number and a good time and I'll give you a call.

John
 

johnpaulh

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Hello all, new to the forum and also see this thread is old. I am a cigar smoker and want to roll my own sometime. To that end I have studied the process and tools.

Cigar molds are generally made out of basswood, which is very straight grained, thus easy to carve/mill, has no residual oils to impart odors, and is slightly absorbent to draw excess moisture out of the wrapped bunches. It is fairly hard so is durable. I have seen some made from maple, but not too many, and the majority of vintage ones are basswood.

Spanish cedar is used in boxes and humidors for several reasons. The resin is a natural insect repellent (though cigar beetles don't seem to mind terribly, especially when the cigars are the more expensive varieties....little buggers like the good stuff too) mostly it is the moisture regulating properties of the wood, once the cedar is acclimated to the proper humidity, it holds and maintains it very well.

Looks like a great place to learn....I am in Michigan, and want to try growing some baccy....this year is out of course, so I have plenty of time to learn, scrounge up some seeds and get ready for 2013!

See ya around!
 

johnlee1933

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Looks like a great place to learn....I am in Michigan, and want to try growing some baccy....this year is out of course, so I have plenty of time to learn, scrounge up some seeds and get ready for 2013!

See ya around!

Hello and Welcome to the sight. You still have a couple of weeks if you wish to try this year. BigBonner on this site is selling seedlings very reasonably. My starts for this year are not doing well so I bought some from BB. They arrived quickly (USPS Priority Mail) and in good shape. They are in the ground now although in this area Memorial Day is the usual start day.

Good Luck,

John
 

deluxestogie

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Welcome to the forum, johnpaulh. There are a number of us on the FTT forum who grow and roll most or all of our own cigars.

You really should order a few of BigBonner's transplants for this year. They're ready to go into the ground now. I would suggest FL Sumatra for wrapper, Little Dutch and PA Red for filler, and Comstock Spanish for binder. He has a number of other excellent cigar-classed varieties as well. Just send a PM to BigBonner to get the details.

Bob
 

DAMIANMLAMB88

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I've been a carpenter for almost 30 years and I'd never even attempt make a cigar mold. You'd have to make jigs for every part and cut everything on a shaper. Your first mold would take a month to make, but the second one would take a few hours.


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No way it would take that long. Lol just route out or chisel then use a sanding head. To shape along with a pre made cigar for fit just keep at it til its Cinderella, they have made them by hand forever before machines
 
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