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Cigar Glue

deluxestogie

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I had never considered making dextrin. If it actually has no taste, then I would say that it would be ideal for cigars. It's apparently non-toxic and non-controversial.

I found this pictorial technique for cornstarch-->dextrin :http://www.wichitabuggywhip.com/fireworks/dextrin.html

They basically describe (including a vivid photo of a box of cornstarch!) the procedure that metalbone used. I assume that "zapped" means that you needed to heat the water for the dextrin to go into solution.

Bob
 

Jim D

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I must be stingy. I bought a bag of xanthan gum as pictured above, and it seems to be a lifetime supply. As for the lumps, I found if I mix it up a few hours in advance of when I'm going to use it, the lumps take care of themselves. It just takes time. I also found that I'm a messy gluer, you can see it when it dries and if on the outide of your wrapper, it's obvious.
Gum arabic on the other hand is invisible and easier to use in my opinion. I have a small bag of cigar glue from WLT also but since I haven't ran out of arabic glue yet, I haven't tried that one yet. I want to try the tragacanth but since I have 3 glues that work already...well I'm stingy, tragacanth will wait til I'm out of arabic and WLT glues.
And when I'm only rolling one to smoke right off the table, I'll get some of the honey from the kitchen cabinet and dab that on the inside edge of the leaf. I haven't had one of those come undone while smoking yet.
 

Twilliger

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So I am Canadian ... eh:) I read that Cuban's get their glue from Canada and it's tragacanth, yet I cannot find a source. Anyone out there have a source within our great white north?
 

Knucklehead

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So I am Canadian ... eh:) I read that Cuban's get their glue from Canada and it's tragacanth, yet I cannot find a source. Anyone out there have a source within our great white north?
I googled tragacanth for sale in Canada and came up with quite a few hits. Walmart Canada, Amazon Canada, etsy, etc.
 

MarcL

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This is my source I've stuck with. baking market food grade in powder form. 1 to 8 parts water. there is another version that has sugar in it. It is used as a cake frosting thickener and decor. to make flowers and stuff.
There is another synthetic market. These are less expensive but have a longer molecular structure that results in a stringy or slimy application that I find undesirable.
There are leather craft applications. These are less expensive and not food grade and come in liquid form. good for edging leather.
There is a natural form of gum or crystalline. botanical supplement market Looks like rock candy. Have not tried it.
 

tullius

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Tried em all and the best is bermocoll 320, hands down. The others are not even close.
 

ChinaVoodoo

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Tried em all and the best is bermocoll 320, hands down. The others are not even close.
Not to sound like a jerk, but how are others not even close? My guar gum cigars don't come unglued.

Whatever a Don sends as free samples dissolves much better. Are you talking about ease of use, or effectiveness?
 

Twilliger

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I googled tragacanth for sale in Canada and came up with quite a few hits. Walmart Canada, Amazon Canada, etsy, etc.
What I came up with via those links were all sources coming from the USA. I am by no means hell bent on using this as glue but I was starting with that as option #1 once my WLT supply dwindles. I was surprised at how difficult it seemed to be to get, eg Amazon.ca was "unavailable" or 22kg size for $88, etsy was twice the cost to ship to Canada and I was a bit leery about products marketed to the leather industry more so than the baking industry.
 

MarcL

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If you have any local pastry shop offerings you may have luck.
It seems fondant ready made powder is more accessible or popular. My pastry chef was a purest and it was traditional French pastry and we made our own everything. Think restaurant and pastry suppliers.
Though, it is said to be the best thickening agent by far. That is why its used for glue.
 

GreenDragon

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For my first year rolling I used tapioca starch which I bought at the local grocery store in the Asian Foods section. $2.00 for a 1 pound bag. Mix with water 1:4 ratio, microwave till thick (gelled). Adjust with water to suit. Might be a good short term solution while you track down a source for tragacanth etc.
 

Dooder

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I tried out the tapioca starch. I like it, it works well, super cost effective. The 1lb bag I bought was $1.50. It takes a little effort to make. I store my glue in the fridge and I found that the tapioca concoction will solidify after a certain amount of time and it differs with viscosity. My buddy bought a jar of tragacanth and I like how that works. No cooking involved and it seems to keep in the fridge. I tried the free stuff that Whole Leaf includes and that works really well too but I have no idea what it is. Leaf Only gave me some free stuff too and that got moldy in a few days.

I'm trying out different consistencies to try and figure out what consistency to mix up for which kind of leaf and it does make a difference, but I can't say that I've concluded anything. Too many other variables haaha.
 

esyren

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Ok, I'm going to throw a couple wrenches in the works here. A week or so ago, it was suggested to me to offer a "rolling glue" on the website. Knowing this "rolling glue" was used for making marijuana cigarettes with a natural leaf wrapper, I figured it would be worth at least giving it a shot. It was delivered today and considering cigar glue is the current number one topic, I immediately opened a bottle and tasted it.

The glue is sweet with little or no aftertaste, but it's in liquid form and takes a little while to dry. Realizing I've never tasted the glue I've been using for the past 4 years, I mixed up a small batch and was surprised by the slightly sweet taste.

The glue I've been using for the past 4 years is Guar Gum. I'll include a small bag of Guar Gum and a bottle of the "rolling glue" in every cigar leaf order from now on at no charge....even for orders not yet shipped (Steve).

Just a note....the guar gum absorbs about 20 times it's volume in water to create a thick paste that holds on contact. The liquid rolling glue sticks slightly on contact and needs a while to dry (depending on the rh where you use it).
guar gum is awesome, and you may add flavor to the water before gum absorbs same
 

plantdude

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I've just started rolling. I'm still at the point where I accidently get a little cigar on my glue:) WLT does provide glue which is nice. Prior to that I was using either sticky rice water or diluted honey very sparingly - not ideal though. I tried making dextrose from corn starch in the toaster oven and wound up with some pretty good flames after about 12 minutes... Yep, WLT provides glue. It may not be as impressive or smell as good as a flaming toaster oven, but it's convenient in a simplistic less flammable sort of way.
 
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