Budget Shredder (0.8mm) tips/comments

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

I have read a few comments from people on different threads hating on the budget shredder. I understand it has its limits but like any other piece of machinery, if you take care of it, it will take care of you. Not to mention it shreds tobacco quite well. Though there are heavier duty shredders offered, some may be financially limited to the budget shredder especially when just starting out. Here are some things I learned while owning/operating mine:

• Keep it clean. The best way to prevent having it "gunked up" is to make sure whatever leaf you are shredding is sufficiently dry. For me, this meant there would be no bunching or balling up of the shredded tobacco on the other side of the shredder. It would fall out nicely shredded onto the surface below.
• Limit how far and often you turn the shredder in the reverse direction. Over time, your shredder will accumulate gunk in the grooves. This gunk can harden under pressure and will rest at the ends of the comb teeth. When the shredder is "reversed" (cranked in the counter-clockwise direction) this hardened gunk can pass under the comb teeth, forcing them to bend away from the grooves. This will create a gap between the teeth and the grooves where shredded leaf will be able to rest and clog up the shredder every time it is used.
• Periodically clean your shredder. I have heard of cleaning the shredder using warm water and an old tooth brush. I am sure this works very well, but I personally did not want to get my shredder unnecessarily wet and promote any rust or corrosion. I would clean my shredders grooves out with a toothpick or any other object that would fit in the .8mm grooves.
• After cleaning, adjust the comb teeth. This is something I always did after cleaning my shredder whether I could tell it needed or not. I would take a flat head screw driver and with the shredder upside down in my hand I would press the teeth of the comb against the shredder cylinder firmly. This would assure that all the teeth were making contact with the shredding cylinder and there were no gaps any leaf could get through and clog up the machine.

By using these techniques, my budget shredder operated like new at all times and is continuing to this day to perform perfectly for what I need it to do. Good Luck!!

 

[MysticMapacho]

Thanks for sharing this. Amazingly, I came here today to look for info on fixing/cleaning my budget shredder and low and behold I found your post!
I just started having issues with my budget shredder not shredding improperly. The issue is mostly related to the tobacco getting balled up in the bottom of the shredder and not falling. This results in a not getting a proper ribbon shredded tobacco.

I'll give it a good cleaning/scraping out and see what happens. I tried removing and adjusting the comb teeth to see if that would help clean the space between the blades but now I'm having a hard time getting them adjusted without restricting the free turning of the crank. If you have any advice on this that would be awesome.

 

[deluxestogie]

I've added this thread to the Index of Key Forum Threads.

Bob

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

Thanks for sharing this. Amazingly, I came here today to look for info on fixing/cleaning my budget shredder and low and behold I found your post!
I just started having issues with my budget shredder not shredding improperly. The issue is mostly related to the tobacco getting balled up in the bottom of the shredder and not falling. This results in a not getting a proper ribbon shredded tobacco.

I'll give it a good cleaning/scraping out and see what happens. I tried removing and adjusting the comb teeth to see if that would help clean the space between the blades but now I'm having a hard time getting them adjusted without restricting the free turning of the crank. If you have any advice on this that would be awesome.

Is the tobacco you're shredding a higher case(more moist) than usual? If so, try letting it dry out more before shredding. Not too dry or it will crumble though. Yeah, give it a good cleaning and see if that helps. I have yet to remove my combs, but I know of people who have replaced the combs and had no issues. Once you have the combs installed firmly against the wheels, cranking it around several times will help clean the grooves out too. Do you have build up in the grooves of the wheels? If so, you will need to clean that all out and re-install the combs. Some of your comb teeth may be bent out of alignment and not touching the wheel. Just do what I listed above with a screwdriver or anything else that will fit between the wheel grooves and allow you to press the teeth back against the wheel. You can run your finger along the comb teeth to feel if any are sticking out as well. Once the wheel grooves and comb teeth are debris free and the combs are re-installed correctly you should be good to go. I heard the toothbrush and warm water method also worked well I just personally didn't want to get my shredder wet...that's up to you. I included some pictures below to illustrate the pressing down of the comb teeth (do that to every tooth) and pictures of how my combs are installed for reference in case you need it. I hope this helps! Good luck!

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

In my experience, most if not all issues with this shredder stem from it being gunked up and needing cleaned. A good rule of thumb for me has been if my tobacco leaf is bunching up in the combs and not falling nicely shredded onto the surface below, my leaf is too wet to shred. Let it dry a little more and try again until you're getting nice even ribbons of shredded tobacco. Also, the mid rib of large virginias, burleys etc... must be removed when using the budget shredder!! It is ok to run smaller leaf vein and smaller mid rib of orientals through this shredder but the large mid ribs can damage the machine and definitely clog it badly. I also occasionally apply a food safe oil (vegetable oil) to all moving parts (you can access the two main gears by removing the two phillips head screws from the black plastic cover opposite the handle side of the shredder). Happy shredding!!

 

[MysticMapacho]

Thanks for your response. Yep, think my leaf was too high of a case. Got around to giving my shredder a full and proper cleaning yesterday before shredding come leaf. Looked through my tools and found a wire brush which did a wonderful job cleaning all the stuck leaf from between the blades. And I figured out how to adjust the combs. So now it’s cranking smoothly and shredding leaf as though it was brand new.

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

Thanks for your response. Yep, think my leaf was too high of a case. Got around to giving my shredder a full and proper cleaning yesterday before shredding come leaf. Looked through my tools and found a wire brush which did a wonderful job cleaning all the stuck leaf from between the blades. And I figured out how to adjust the combs. So now it’s cranking smoothly and shredding leaf as though it was brand new.

Glad to hear it! Good idea with a wire brush, I may just borrow that idea from you! It should serve you well for as long as you need it to. I've heard of guys shredding hundreds of pounds through them and they're still going strong. Enjoy!

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

I've added this thread to the Index of Key Forum Threads.

Bob

thanks bob

 

[GWLee]

Great points. I'm too hard on my shredders, and probably too impatient to always let the leaves get to the right casing. I bounce back and forth between my hand cranked shredders and the powermatic S (depends on how lazy I am at the time). Also, I have been using Vodka to clean all my shredders, have not experienced any issues such as rust or the likes. Also like you, I use a screwdriver and an awl to scrap the teeth and wheels, also using a wire brush like MysticMapacho noted.

Cheers

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

Alcohol is a good idea for cleaning too. I've thought about it before because it would also kill any mold spores that may have gone through your shredder that were dormant on a leaf that may have come from the main mid rib of an air dryed leaf but I've never used it. I'll have to give that a try too. I've just noticed that the comb teeth of the budget shredder will bend easily and if they're not pushed back into alignment your shredder will gunk up constantly. I'm happy with mine and think it is well constructed for its price point.

 

[deluxestogie]

" Higher concentrations of ethanol are required to kill fungal spores than bacteria, which show a maximum kill efficacy of 70% ethanol."

An Evaluation of Antifungal Agents for the Treatment of Fungal Contamination in Indoor Air Environments - PMC

Fungal contamination in indoor environments has been associated with adverse health effects for the inhabitants. Remediation of fungal contamination requires removal of the fungi present and modifying the indoor environment to become less favourable ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

That would be 140 proof ethanol.

Mold spores are ubiquitous. Control is best exercised by maintaining a low humidity.

Bob

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

" Higher concentrations of ethanol are required to kill fungal spores than bacteria, which show a maximum kill efficacy of 70% ethanol."

An Evaluation of Antifungal Agents for the Treatment of Fungal Contamination in Indoor Air Environments - PMC

Fungal contamination in indoor environments has been associated with adverse health effects for the inhabitants. Remediation of fungal contamination requires removal of the fungi present and modifying the indoor environment to become less favourable ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

That would be 140 proof ethanol.

Mold spores are ubiquitous. Control is best exercised by maintaining a low humidity.

Bob

Nice, thank you for the information. I'm glad you brought that up because a main reason I didn't use alcohol to clean my shredder was I didn't have any high concentration ethanol in the house. I have quite a bit of 91% isopropyl alcohol but my understanding is it is denatured somehow and not safe for consumption and as a rule of thumb I try to only use food grade products on tobacco equipment. I guess it's one of those ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure deals. I just try to keep most of my tobacco at low case while in storage, use airtight mason jars and cross my fingers! This brings up another question I have which is off topic but does tobacco age while out of case? Thanks Bob!!

 

[deluxestogie]

Tobacco hardly ages when bone dry. In low case (noisy, but does not crumble when handled), it ages.

Bob

 

[Homegrowngoodnes]

Wire brush...thumbs for the win!

 

[Iowalez]

Boiling water and a toothbrush is much less abrasion than a wire brush causing wear and damage, and cleans my shredder completely. Boiling water dries in seconds and doesn't cause rust. I outgrew my economy shredder within a few weeks and invested in the WLT heavy duty shredder. 18 months and no rust anywhere.

 

[Mico]

Very helpful advice, thank you.

I got a small shredder that works very good. Problem is that the cut is too fine for the pipe.

 

[stdly]

Very helpful advice, thank you.

I got a small shredder that works very good. Problem is that the cut is too fine for the pipe.

WLT sells two hand crank shredders one is .8 mm one is 1 mm I bought the 1 mm for my pipe tobacco and it seems fine for a pipe smoker.

 

[deluxestogie]

My personal preference for a pipe shred is closer to 2mm. I have found that by tightly rolling the whole leaf into a cigar-shaped bundle, I can shred it rapidly using the Kuhn-Rikkon Mezzaluna blade, by rocking it to slice coins. I then slice the row of coins into one or more portions, depending on my desired shred length.

https://www.amazon.com/Kuhn-Rikon-Mezzaluna-Knife-Red/dp/B00HSDXP40

The tighter and smaller the diameter of the rolled tobacco, the finer the possible shred. And the best part is that gummy leaf, such as many Orientals and flue-cured Virginias can be simply wiped off the single blade with a wet paper towel. No ethanol, no oil, no gears or cranks or motorizations, no disassembly/reassembly, no bearing replacements.

Bob the Simple

 

[Mico]

My personal preference for a pipe shred is closer to 2mm. I have found that by tightly rolling the whole leaf into a cigar-shaped bundle, I can shred it rapidly using the Kuhn-Rikkon Mezzaluna blade, by rocking it to slice coins. I then slice the row of coins into one or more portions, depending on my desired shred length.

https://www.amazon.com/Kuhn-Rikon-Mezzaluna-Knife-Red/dp/B00HSDXP40

The tighter and smaller the diameter of the rolled tobacco, the finer the possible shred. And the best part is that gummy leaf, such as many Orientals and flue-cured Virginias can be simply wiped off the single blade with a wet paper towel. No ethanol, no oil, no gears or cranks or motorizations, no disassembly/reassembly, no bearing replacements.

Bob the Simple

That's how I was doing it after seeing you Bob. I found that the shredder is faster, but since the cut is so fine (it sais 1.1mm), I will probably get back to the knife until I find a wider cut shredder.

 

[Knucklehead]

That's how I was doing it after seeing you Bob. I found that the shredder is faster, but since the cut is so fine (it sais 1.1mm), I will probably get back to the knife until I find a wider cut shredder.

Perhaps a flake maker like I posted in my grow blog? I borrowed the idea from skychaser. Some may view it as stealing, but I choose to call it research.

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