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What is the best budget shredder?

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WooTeck

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im not really sure the best place to post this. still getting my head around the sight.

heres my question whats is the best shredder to go for on a budget. Ive seen some hand crank cheapish for about £30. i also had the idea that i could get an office shredder and use it. obviously id need to go out and test a few before getting one to see the diameters as i prefer fine to rough cut.

any advice? ideally with the reason for/agents.

thanks, eck
 

bonehead

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hopefully fmgrowit gets his manual shredder for sale soon. i started out with scissors at first. after a while i got an old paper cutter from a school. the meat cleaver on a flat board thing. now i have a power matic. a lot of people use a lot of different things. it all comes down to how much you smoke and if your other half also partakes. look at the posts about shredders there are tons and a lot of info.
 

DougW

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I have the cheap (not after shipping) hand shredder giving a 0.8 mm cut. Mine works great and I had tried several methods before. None were satisfactory, and any cut larger than 0.8 mm is too large for cigarettes, IMO. The larger cuts burn more cigar like and the thinner cuts are much smoother. A 0.6 mm cut would be great, but that's a bit to fine for a light shredder to achieve, so 0.8 mm is about all you can expect. 1 mm would be too large for cigarettes and burn much less smoothly.
 

andrew_b

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Hi WooTeck. Here'a a link to where I got mine from:
http://www.tobaccoandmachines.com/index.php?s=produkty&id=23
It's Polish and it's very well built. Gives a nice 0.8mm cut. Pros: Great shred quality. Smooth operation. Good value. Low maintainance. Cons: Doesn't come with a clamp so you have to buy one. The combs seem to be welded to it, you're supposed to be able to unscrew them with a metric allen key for cleaning but I can't shift them. The product description states that you can drive it with an electric screw driver, this is not accurate as I've tried 2 screw drivers and they aren't powerful enough. A bit tricky to catch the tobacco underneath but it's possible to 'rig something up'.

I started out with one of those £30 shredders and they're OK for doing small batches but not robust enough to do a pound at a time which is why I upgraded. Don't bother with a paper shredder because they just aren't up to shredding tobacco, too thick a shred and will probably break.

The Polish guy I bought mine off is good to deal with and payment is quick and easy through a proper secure server, might do paypal can't remember. In an ideal world I'd have a Powermatic electric shredder, but last time I checked you're looking at the best part of £300 to bring one into the UK and that's a bit steep, so this was the best alternative I could find.
 

Freeotatv

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There are members that have good luck using a pasta maker with the angel hair attachment.

If using pasta maker..use a dremel or hand sand paper the rollers...tobrough up the rollers..the roughed up surface will help feed the leaf...
 

MarcL

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attachment.php
 

BarG

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Even with the kinks , the powermatic shredder has been a worthy investment and best to date till available new innovations are made available for long term whole leaf use!
Affording Innovation and availability are luxureries as well as necessecities. Otherwise figure it out, I'm sure you will.
 

WooTeck

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Hi WooTeck. Here'a a link to where I got mine from:
http://www.tobaccoandmachines.com/index.php?s=produkty&id=23
It's Polish and it's very well built. Gives a nice 0.8mm cut. Pros: Great shred quality. Smooth operation. Good value. Low maintainance. Cons: Doesn't come with a clamp so you have to buy one. The combs seem to be welded to it, you're supposed to be able to unscrew them with a metric allen key for cleaning but I can't shift them. The product description states that you can drive it with an electric screw driver, this is not accurate as I've tried 2 screw drivers and they aren't powerful enough. A bit tricky to catch the tobacco underneath but it's possible to 'rig something up'.

I started out with one of those £30 shredders and they're OK for doing small batches but not robust enough to do a pound at a time which is why I upgraded. Don't bother with a paper shredder because they just aren't up to shredding tobacco, too thick a shred and will probably break.

The Polish guy I bought mine off is good to deal with and payment is quick and easy through a proper secure server, might do paypal can't remember. In an ideal world I'd have a Powermatic electric shredder, but last time I checked you're looking at the best part of £300 to bring one into the UK and that's a bit steep, so this was the best alternative I could find.

thats seems do-able its 20euro p&p so it works out to be about £76.

There are members that have good luck using a pasta maker with the angel hair attachment.
i do have a pasta maker that i may see how it works out to start.

i also found where this should have been posted just after i posted this *face palm
 

burge

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thats seems do-able its 20euro p&p so it works out to be about £76.


i do have a pasta maker that i may see how it works out to start.

i also found where this should have been posted just after i posted this *face palm

I just bought herb scissors which work okay. I got a cheap rotary cheese grater hand crank works okay
 

ChinaVoodoo

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I'm into knives, somewhat. My dad was a butcher, he is a knife collector, and that makes me one too, because he's generous. I honestly don't see what's so tough about cutting tobacco with a sharp kitchen knife. So far, it's the best method I've used. Nice ribbon cut from a impromptu roll, and nice flake from a plug. Ounces in minutes. I think if a knife don't work for you, it's probably not sharp enough. I used a 7" Shun santoku which I use for everythin. No need for a dedicated knife
 

FmGrowit

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These are pretty common on ebay. They're most often referred to as bread slicers...not sure if that's what they are really for. There are two basic types. One with a straight blade, the other with a curved blade. You'll get a much better slicing action with the curved blade.

The biggest problem with using a shape chef's or butcher's knife for cutting tobacco is fatigue. These Raadvad slicers give you plenty of leverage to reduce fatigue.



 

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deluxestogie

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The Raadvad looks like a plug cutter. In the late 19th century, pressed tobacco plug was wholesaled to general stores, often accompanied by a plug cutter. Customers would request a inch or two.

Bob
 

Chicken

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Hands down...the powermatic shredder is the way to go
 

bonehead

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No doubt, but at almost $300, the Powermatic does not fall under the definition of "budget shredder".
that depends on how much tobacco you shred in a year or two or more. in ct. cigarettes are around $100.00 dollars a carton. if you smoke a pack a day how many weeks does it take to pay for a shredder?
 

Alhefner

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that depends on how much tobacco you shred in a year or two or more. in ct. cigarettes are around $100.00 dollars a carton. if you smoke a pack a day how many weeks does it take to pay for a shredder?

$100 a carton?!?! WOW! Here in Nevada, folks can still get their cigs at about $50 per carton but, that is about to go UP to at least $60 soon... they just added another "dollar per pack" to the cigarette tax...

Anyway, the little hand shredders that look like half a pasta machine do work and cost about $40 + shipping from some folks here in the U.S. I've got one and shreddd a pound of Brightleaf through it in about half an hour (destemming took place ahead of time).
 

Chicken

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Their is a lot of videos on you tube...of some homemade devices for shredding bacca...some do a good job..

And some look like they would be down right dangerous to operate.
 

burge

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I had used herb scissors then a hand cheese grater. It worked well then saw the powermatic shredder at a price I liked. Don has a sale on now which is a good deal. The savings so far have pretty much paid for the shredder. That shredder will save you a whole bunch of time
 
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