Bercomac shredder.. Home made shredders?

[Nesikep]

I had a fellow offer me a Bercomac shredder a while back, apparently it was a nice little unit, but I haven't been able to find any information about them, except I think they were built in Quebec.?

I've been using a pasta cutter for the last few years, which is a little coarse, but does the job I guess. It is seriously worn out though, the 'bearing' was nothing more than steel on steel, so that didn't last long, and I rebuilt it, but have eternal problems with leaf clogging up the slots, and tearing out the "stripper".. An endless source of frustration.

I was thinking about the Powermatic listed here, but after the reviews I'm thinking twice about it.

I'd be interested in seeing what other people have built from scratch.. One of my friend has a cheap rig, it's a disc with 3 razor blades in it, you roll the leaf into a sausage and feed it, while turning the hand crank.. Seems to make a nice shag.

 

[chuditch]

I am using one of the ones from eBay.
The type you clamp to a bench or table feed the leaf in the top between the rollers/cutters and turn the handle.
Is a good unit and cuts at 0.8mm.
It can be a bit hard to turn the handle at times and doesnt seem as strong as I would like it to be typical male making things go round even if does seem a bit tight and should be taking it apart again to free it up.
The moisture level in the leaves seems very important for a good result. To dry and goes to dust a touch to damp and it clogs it up.
I was thinking of the powermatic shredder as well but for the cost would want it to work perfectly and it seems like people do have problems with them.
I am open for ideas as well.
I have thought of making the tobacco brick/plug and then feeding against the revolving shredder blade.

 

[Matty]

I seem to remember reading something about a shredder being made in quebec, made sometime in the seventies. Can't remember where I saw the article though. It looked like a tech 1 blade head with a manual feed.

 

[Nesikep]

What are these Tech 1 blade heads? I know this bercomac was electrically driven.

With my pasta cutter, I made a jig so I could power it by my lathe at the right speed..
Chuditch, you're very right in that the moisture content is absolutely critical with the pasta cutters.. I think mine is about a 1.4mm or so.. pretty coarse.

When it's working right, it's very fast, the problem is I spend more time fixing it than using it. I think i can put about 10 lb an hour through it without much trouble.. I know it didn't take me long to cut a whole year's worth. A leaf goes through in about 4 seconds or so.. I could run it faster but I usually have to hold the leaf to keep it running square.
It also seems to work better, (especially if your moisture is a touch high) if you put 2 leaves at a time through. I also ran a knurler over the rollers, because before every little vein would jam it up.

 

[chuditch]

What about if made a brick of tobacco and used a meat slicer the powered automatic ones they can cut cold meat very thin so thin you can look through the slices of ham. Would that work?

 

[FmGrowit]

The Bercomac shredder appears to be entirely unknown except to the members in this thread. Please expound on this shredder. The world needs a proper tobacco shredder.

 

[Nesikep]

I googled for it (I had the model number once upon a time), and I found absolutely NO information about it.. I'm going to pester the fellow a little more to sell it to me, but it seems to have emotional value, it was his mothers, and she passed away, but he's never going to use it...
Maybe I can borrow it for a while at least

 

[Knucklehead]

I've had problem free service from my Powermatic for two years. If it breaks I'll buy another one without hesitation. I do not use it like a commercial machine, which I feel has contributed to it's longevity.

 

[DGBAMA]

What about if made a brick of tobacco and used a meat slicer the powered automatic ones they can cut cold meat very thin so thin you can look through the slices of ham. Would that work?

This option has been discussed in the past, works well, until the blade gets coated in gummy tobacco gook.

 

[chuditch]

Thank you DGBAMA that has probably saved me a huge cleaning job on the slicer and the displeasure of she who must be obeyed

 

[chuditch]

I think I am just going to have to bite the bullet and buy a Powermatic shredder. But I will also have to buy a transforme to convert our 240 volt down to the 110 volt it is set up for. I know I can buy the Powermatic 2 here in Australia using 240 volt has anyone heard if they will be making the shredder in 240 for Europe and Australia?