I'll keep you informed as to how they work in that case then.
I will try my best at keeping cost low but still keep it somewhat high quality. I've got a few shops I can get the electric motors in.
I've looked over a few designs, some from the early 1800's and some from the 1980's, both incorporate a "leaf grabbing" action via 2 different sets of wheels, the first set is set at X RPM while the send set is set at say X+1000RPM, thus grabbing the lamina and peeling it away from the vein. I can see good use for that in cigarettes where the condition of the lamina isn't a huge priority, but with a cigar as you know the lamina is almost the pride and joy of the leaf.
My set up will use EPDM rubber guide wheels (won't dry out when exposed to air such as rubber wheels on a car when they get dry rotted), a razor guide that slices the lamina alongside the vein, and either an adjustable vein-width guide or (if my design works that I have in front of me) an "automatic" vein width guide that travels a few millimeters in front of the razor guide and moves the razor guide to the width of the upcoming vein.
Obviously, the electric will cost more, electric motors (that aren't cheapo China ones) are sitting pretty high on the price market right now, even when bought in quantity. (a motor such as the one on a powermatic is probably within the top 5 costs of the machine).
The manual one will be slower but will have a hand crank similar to manual shredders.
Sorry, no fancy stainless steel in this design's future...