I do okay hand rolling and smoking whatever I make. I am the first to admit that I have no where near the experience of some of the masters on this site. I have only produced a little more than 200 sticks, and am not to worried about how the look. However, I do have a couple of molds and do appreciate the smoother appearance they offer.
I started without one. Then I had a perfecto mold ,not much of a perfecto fan and they are not the easiest to roll. So I sold it. Bought 2 churchill molds -One is 48 ring other is a 50 ring.Both are 7 inch lengths. I'd rather have a 54 ring mold but these work fine.
I like to use a mold for two reasons. First it makes a better looking finished cigar that is much easier to wrap than a hand rolled. The other is that it forces you to use consistent amounts of leaf to make the same size. Repetition.
I`m crap without a mold. Only use molds. Living in South Africa its not easy to buy any cigar molds, so Iv`e had a few made by a not so decent wood work guy. Had to modify them a bit. I make from Churchill`s to panatellas, all mold press and then he made one mold about a ring size 62/63, call them " Fat Bastards".
I weigh all my tobacco with an electronic scale, and my cigars are pretty consistent.
If you plan on giving cigars to your brother-in-law/father-in-law, then you will need a mold to impress them. Hand rolling without a mold can produce perfectly smokable cigars, and with time, beautiful cigars.
I'll pass on the mold, go the time route, and just continue freehand until I can make and wrap a really good looking cigar regardless of ring size or shape...then at that point, why bother with a mold? If my in-law has to have a mold-pressed cigar, well he can just smoke a swisher.
PS. I'm really enjoying this site and am trying to bone up on the blend information in the threads so that i'm at least starting out on a good footing....invaluable information for the novice.
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