Knucklehead's 2022 Prilep and Veggie Container Grow Blog

[Jer]

The finest of guitar manufacturers (Guild, Martin, etc.) never figured out how to properly support the massive tension of a 12-string guitar. My Martin D12-20 pooched out its belly in the lower bout, at the bridge attachment, so the distance from nut to bridge was a little bit shorter. Fretting of every string was slightly sharp as a result. Boo!

Bob

My early seventies Maya has the same issue.
Amazingly the intonation and playability has not been affected much at all.
I need to replace that missing B string and give this one some love. I don’t know if it’s the split rosewood back or what but she sounds better and better with age.
Maybe it’s like Alpine put it “A seasoned guitar “ .

 

[Jer]

My early seventies Maya has the same issue.
Amazingly the intonation and playability has not been affected much at all.
I need to replace that missing B string and give this one some love. I don’t know if it’s the split rosewood back or what but she sounds better and better with age.
Maybe it’s like Alpine put it “A seasoned guitar “ .

 

[Plinsc]

I’ve been eyeballing those grow bags since seeing the rain gutter grow system, automatic watering

View: https://youtu.be/NyOIRVjatdg

 

[Knucklehead]

I’ve been eyeballing those grow bags since seeing the rain gutter grow system, automatic watering

View: https://youtu.be/NyOIRVjatdg

I had seen them in passing but didn't know how they worked until I saw the video you posted. I get it now. Thanks for the link.

 

[deluxestogie]

It's like a giant float tray system.

 

[Plinsc]

I hope to set a system up for veggies (in a hoop house) this spring, I might try a separate one for growing tobacco in.
We will see, remodel coming up so funds will be lower than normal.

 

[Laredo]

@Knucklehead @skychaser that 1/4” hardware cloth shredder thing works surprisingly well. I was skeptical, and tried it first with 1/2”screen since I had some lying around. It worked, but the flakes did not work well with my Powermatic 3+ injector. Got myself some 1/4” cloth and tried it again. Very little dust and nice looking flakes. A few minutes ago, I tried running the flake from the 1/4” screen through the Powermatic and it ran well.

I have the Mach1 shredder that cuts in 1.5mm wide strips and no cross cut. When I originall processed my whole leaf I just took out the mid rib and ran some through the shredder. The shreds were way to long and wouldn’t run through the injector. I then went through and took bundles of leaf halves, and cross cut them into 3/4” to 1” wide strips. I ran some of that through the shredder and it was a no go in the injector. So after about 32 hours processing 15 pounds of leaf, I still couldn’t efficiently stuff any cigarettes. The leaf was from LO and is their Virginia Bright Leaf that comes to them in compressed bales which made separating and flattening the leaves quite a chore. Normal, uncompressed leaf, only takes me about 1/2 hour per pound to process.

Anyway, thanks for the 1/4” screen idea. I think it is going to be the way I go from here on out. I was going to try the P5 paper shredder deal like @pottsS did, but I think I like the processing method of the screen method better. Especially if I can become fully self sufficient at growing my own and just let the dry leaves hang out until they are flaked and then case them. Right now I have a 20 gallon vittles vault with processed un-shredded tobacco and Boveda humidity packs keeping things at the proper case for shredding.

 

[Knucklehead]

@Knucklehead @skychaser that 1/4” hardware cloth shredder thing works surprisingly well. I was skeptical, and tried it first with 1/2”screen since I had some lying around. It worked, but the flakes did not work well with my Powermatic 3+ injector. Got myself some 1/4” cloth and tried it again. Very little dust and nice looking flakes. A few minutes ago, I tried running the flake from the 1/4” screen through the Powermatic and it ran well.

I have the Mach1 shredder that cuts in 1.5mm wide strips and no cross cut. When I originall processed my whole leaf I just took out the mid rib and ran some through the shredder. The shreds were way to long and wouldn’t run through the injector. I then went through and took bundles of leaf halves, and cross cut them into 3/4” to 1” wide strips. I ran some of that through the shredder and it was a no go in the injector. So after about 32 hours processing 15 pounds of leaf, I still couldn’t efficiently stuff any cigarettes. The leaf was from LO and is their Virginia Bright Leaf that comes to them in compressed bales which made separating and flattening the leaves quite a chore. Normal, uncompressed leaf, only takes me about 1/2 hour per pound to process.

Anyway, thanks for the 1/4” screen idea. I think it is going to be the way I go from here on out. I was going to try the P5 paper shredder deal like @pottsS did, but I think I like the processing method of the screen method better. Especially if I can become fully self sufficient at growing my own and just let the dry leaves hang out until they are flaked and then case them. Right now I have a 20 gallon vittles vault with processed un-shredded tobacco and Boveda humidity packs keeping things at the proper case for shredding.

I found that the drier the leaf, the easier and faster the work goes in making flakes by screening. Dry, dry.

 

[Laredo]

I found that the drier the leaf, the easier and faster the work goes in making flakes by screening. Dry, dry.

Oh yeah, for sure. I have to roll some smokes today. I usually roll up 2 cartons at a time so I have about a pound of my processed tobacco sitting out to dry. Once dry, I will put it through the 1/4” screen and then case it for rolling. It’s a little bit of extra work, right now, since all my tobacco is in the same cased state, but well worth it for the consistency of the flake. Next year, I can change my process.

 

[Laredo]

I’m going to definitely stick with this “shredding” method for a while. Rolled up two cartons of smokes in about an hour and 10 minutes. On a good day, with shredded tobacco from my Mach1, it would take me 1.5 hours, on a bad day (with longer shreds) around two hours, or longer depending on how much fiddling was necessary.

The 1/4” flakes allowed my Powermatic 3+ to do two tamping cycles on the tobacco before injecting it in the tube. Probably 85% of the smokes I rolled today were from two tamps, the rest were 3 tamps with an occasional 4. The cigarettes smoke well with a good draw, cherry stays on, and the burn rate is good too. All around the best method I have tried so far.

 

[pottsS]

I’m going to definitely stick with this “shredding” method for a while. Rolled up two cartons of smokes in about an hour and 10 minutes. On a good day, with shredded tobacco from my Mach1, it would take me 1.5 hours, on a bad day (with longer shreds) around two hours, or longer depending on how much fiddling was necessary.

The 1/4” flakes allowed my Powermatic 3+ to do two tamping cycles on the tobacco before injecting it in the tube. Probably 85% of the smokes I rolled today were from two tamps, the rest were 3 tamps with an occasional 4. The cigarettes smoke well with a good draw, cherry stays on, and the burn rate is good too. All around the best method I have tried so far.

Changing my ideal of what a good shred should look like really made life much simpler for me and for my powermatic 3+. My son and a friend did jam it the other day with with some fines, I couldn't get it un jammed so finally I took the top off, the poor thing was solid inside with fines. It has 29000 cigarettes on it, I had the top off once just to see if I could do anything to adjust the tamping and it had fines in it then so since then I vac the hopper and the vent holes on the bottom ocassionally, but I've never taken the top off again, I learned that if it doesn't tamp right I need to adjust the tobacco, but I think from now on I'll take that cover off every 5000 or so and do a proper cleaning! I do like my paper shredder, but I would have never even considered it as an option if I hadn't tried the screen first an discovered how much the powermatic prefers the flakes! The screen is hands down the most economical and stupid proof way to go.

 

[Laredo]

Changing my ideal of what a good shred should look like really made life much simpler for me and for my powermatic 3+. My son and a friend did jam it the other day with with some fines, I couldn't get it un jammed so finally I took the top off, the poor thing was solid inside with fines. It has 29000 cigarettes on it, I had the top off once just to see if I could do anything to adjust the tamping and it had fines in it then so since then I vac the hopper and the vent holes on the bottom ocassionally, but I've never taken the top off again, I learned that if it doesn't tamp right I need to adjust the tobacco, but I think from now on I'll take that cover off every 5000 or so and do a proper cleaning! I do like my paper shredder, but I would have never even considered it as an option if I hadn't tried the screen first an discovered how much the powermatic prefers the flakes! The screen is hands down the most economical and stupid proof way to go.

Aha, right on, good to hear that the paper shredder is still going strong. I still have three in a shopping cart as I may still try it. I don’t ever seem to stop tinkering. Lol

I had a guy 3D print me a set of plates that fit into the PowerMatic 3+ that adjust the amount of tobacco that gets stuffed into each filter tube. They seem to work ok. Here is a video (not in English) and the guy also sells the plates:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=2djp1DnIuBs


I did not order the plates from him, I found the STL files online and had a guy from Etsy print them for me as I don’t have a computer that can drive my 3D printer. The Etsy guy charged me $25 including shipping to print them. I can give you the STL files and the Etsy contact info if you want to get a set made.

 

[pottsS]

Aha, right on, good to hear that the paper shredder is still going strong. I still have three in a shopping cart as I may still try it. I don’t ever seem to stop tinkering. Lol

I had a guy 3D print me a set of plates that fit into the PowerMatic 3+ that adjust the amount of tobacco that gets stuffed into each filter tube. They seem to work ok. Here is a video (not in English) and the guy also sells the plates:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=2djp1DnIuBs


I did not order the plates from him, I found the STL files online and had a guy from Etsy print them for me as I don’t have a computer that can drive my 3D printer. The Etsy guy charged me $25 including shipping to print them. I can give you the STL files and the Etsy contact info if you want to get a set made.

I watched that video and I really contemplated ordering, I didn't because I do OK with the price of tobacco and the tamp I get now...but what really impresses me is the reading on his machine...he has almost 115,000 cigarettes made! That is some pretty cheap cigarette injecting!

 

[Laredo]

I watched that video and I really contemplated ordering, I didn't because I do OK with the price of tobacco and the tamp I get now...but what really impresses me is the reading on his machine...he has almost 115,000 cigarettes made! That is some pretty cheap cigarette injecting!

I noticed that too, quite impressive. I only have about 6500 on my machine. I don’t have any major complaints. If it lasts me a few more years, I’ll be happy. Getting it to over 100,000 would be great.