I shred for cigarettes by volume rather than by weight. I use a metric ruler to mark off the levels for each variety in the blend. I use 10cm for two reasons, 10cm of shredded tobacco in the plastic tub provided with the Powermatic Shredder yields right at 1 pound of shredded tobacco. Second, 10cm is easy to convert to percentages. 10cm = 100%, therefore 4 cm = 40%, etc. My cigarette blend of 40% Virginia, 20% Burley, 20% Maryland, 10% Dark Air, 10% Izmir looks like this: 4cm Virginia, 2cm Burley, 2 cm Maryland, 1cm Dark Air, 1cm Izmir. I mark the levels off with masking tape and shred each variety until it reaches the top of the corresponding tape. The shredding and blending goes pretty fast. I bring the varieties into low medium case the night before I shred. Here's a picture.
I then dump the tub out on a table and blend all the tobacco together. Like shuffling a deck of cards. The lighter colored tobacco in the mix will give you an idea of when the tobacco is thoroughly blended. Here's a pound blend in a two gallon zip lock. The Bright Yellow tobacco is Brown Thumb's flue cured Big Gem. It's yummy.
I then dump the tub out on a table and blend all the tobacco together. Like shuffling a deck of cards. The lighter colored tobacco in the mix will give you an idea of when the tobacco is thoroughly blended. Here's a pound blend in a two gallon zip lock. The Bright Yellow tobacco is Brown Thumb's flue cured Big Gem. It's yummy.
