When I went out to San Diego on vacation, the woman behind the counter always asked if she could light my cigar for me. Being new to cigars a couple times I agreed. She used this big giant three flame torch attached to a tank the size of a propane cylinder. Now that I look back on it I'm a little angry. She ruined every cigar she lit for me by doing this. I kinda wish I had known better at the time not only so I wouldn't have wasted the huge amounts of money they charge out there but also so I could have said something about her lack of knowledge of cigars while working in a cigar shop.
Lighting Cigars 101
- Thread starter CastleCrest
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iminaquagmire said:
Wondering what happened with your lighter?
I always thought that (like in a car lighter) a round disk that heats up cherry red could be used?
Just place the cigar against it and get a even light.
Problem with the car lighter is they are never big enough to fit a cigar into - just a thought :roll:
Just joined and was reading how to light a cigar
I would have to say most of what i have read here I do. But some i have not heard of, but i will be trying it whan i get in,were i work cigar,s are allowed.14 days with out a smoke is hard.
I would have to say most of what i have read here I do. But some i have not heard of, but i will be trying it whan i get in,were i work cigar,s are allowed.14 days with out a smoke is hard.
CastleCrest, thanks for the instructional advice. I just lit a corona using your suggested method, and it worked like a charm.
I've been thinking about the screen lighter. Sorry to be a party pooper, but I don't think it will work. The reason it works in you car lighter, is that the heating filament has relatively small cross section, giving it just the right resistance and low heat capacity. A screen, on the other hand, has many, many paths by which the current can travel, meaning you would have to have pretty darn high current to really heat up any significant area of screen.
Maybe I'm envisioning this wrong. You might make it work by constraining the current path to, say, a strip of screen, maybe 3/4"x5". Also, you have to remember that your car battery, while only 12V, is capable of wicked high current. If you're planning on making this thing plug-in (120V AC), you need a step-down transformer/rectifier to something safer, like 12-30 V DC. The expensive part is that it needs to be capable of high current (like at least 10A, maybe 25A to be sure it can handle it). Car/marine battery chargers/jumpers are often in this very bracket (or higher amperage). Another posiiblilty would be to just hook it up to a car battery, but then you'd have to charge it from time to time anyhow.
The heating will occur primarily at the highest resistance point in the circuit. Make sure this is your screen, and not your wires, connections, switches, or even your current source (transformers and even batteries have internal resistance). If you make sure the above is true (by a good margin), then the lower the screen resistance, the higher your current flow and the faster your heating will be.
If you use a current source in the range I mentioned above, decent gauge wires and high amperage switches, you might be able to do switch < wires < .01 ohm, and screen ~.5 ohm. You'll have to select your screen thickness (I mean how heavy the wire in it is), width, and length, to shoot for this goal.
Hope this helps (and I also hope that I'm not insulting your intelligence by posting it). Good Luck!
Maybe I'm envisioning this wrong. You might make it work by constraining the current path to, say, a strip of screen, maybe 3/4"x5". Also, you have to remember that your car battery, while only 12V, is capable of wicked high current. If you're planning on making this thing plug-in (120V AC), you need a step-down transformer/rectifier to something safer, like 12-30 V DC. The expensive part is that it needs to be capable of high current (like at least 10A, maybe 25A to be sure it can handle it). Car/marine battery chargers/jumpers are often in this very bracket (or higher amperage). Another posiiblilty would be to just hook it up to a car battery, but then you'd have to charge it from time to time anyhow.
The heating will occur primarily at the highest resistance point in the circuit. Make sure this is your screen, and not your wires, connections, switches, or even your current source (transformers and even batteries have internal resistance). If you make sure the above is true (by a good margin), then the lower the screen resistance, the higher your current flow and the faster your heating will be.
If you use a current source in the range I mentioned above, decent gauge wires and high amperage switches, you might be able to do switch < wires < .01 ohm, and screen ~.5 ohm. You'll have to select your screen thickness (I mean how heavy the wire in it is), width, and length, to shoot for this goal.
Hope this helps (and I also hope that I'm not insulting your intelligence by posting it). Good Luck!
Hey this may be a rookie question... But I have given up my Captain Blacks and Backwoods for Montes.
How does one unplug and cigar??
I have heard of pokers, how do u use them??
How does one unplug and cigar??
I have heard of pokers, how do u use them??
I ended up abandoning the mesh idea because the heating and cooling made the small joints brittle so even if I got past the path of least resistance hangup the element wouldn't last. I was tinkering around with a coil but I got sidetracked with restoring my tablesaw.
quag-
That problem certainly makes sense. I wonder what they make car lighter coils out of? Something that does well under constant thermal fluctuation and is strong enough to be stretched into a thin little band... Tungsten? Someone must have solved this problem for them.
Good luck!
That problem certainly makes sense. I wonder what they make car lighter coils out of? Something that does well under constant thermal fluctuation and is strong enough to be stretched into a thin little band... Tungsten? Someone must have solved this problem for them.
Good luck!
Nichrome, an alloy of nickel and chromium. Its wound to a certain resistance so apparently its pretty complicated. Its melting point is 1400 degrees celsius so its perfectly suited. Its also used in toasters, ovens, and hair dryers.
I see you have done your research here...
And probably had all that crap from my long post figured out well before I posted it...
Let us know if the coil works out. And how much amperage it turns out to need.
And probably had all that crap from my long post figured out well before I posted it...
Let us know if the coil works out. And how much amperage it turns out to need.
Joined Apr 2006
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Watching Eli smoke Robs cigars
CC! Thanks for starting this thread and for your excellent discription of how to properly light a cigar. Gosh, it makes a huge difference and totally changes the entire burn of the cigar. The overall taste is much better the burn is better the experience is wonderful. Thanks!
iminaquagmire said:
Churchill's war room in London...he had a similar beast built. it is a door bell, with a filament replacing the bell part. push the button, lean forward and smoke. its brilliant really...
seems like a normal 12 volt car lighter can be rigged to 12 volt transformer and the element can be modified to accomodate the diameter of the cigars, if need be.
I think any implementation of this should not have a live current connected to anything that you may be touching a cigar to.
just as the car implementation.
i find that the car lighter to be a pure and non flavoring method, however i have to light each side of the cigar and blow on it to get it near even before seriously puffing on it.
results for a clean smoke.
it is kind of a pain to slide the little metal sleeve down and poke the cigar in at an angle, but done right it can be effective., if done before the element cools too much. 8)
I think any implementation of this should not have a live current connected to anything that you may be touching a cigar to.
just as the car implementation.
i find that the car lighter to be a pure and non flavoring method, however i have to light each side of the cigar and blow on it to get it near even before seriously puffing on it.
results for a clean smoke.
it is kind of a pain to slide the little metal sleeve down and poke the cigar in at an angle, but done right it can be effective., if done before the element cools too much. 8)
Anyone ever try the 3 match style of lighting a cigar? I just watched a video of how to do it on CA. Looks like a pretty neat way of lighting a cigar. I'm going to the B&M tonight to watch the 1st half of the game and will be having a Padron 1964 Maduro Monarca and will try this way of lighting. Looks like fun.
im not sure im familiar with that.
wanna enlighten me? (or anyone else that doesnt knwo this method)
and when you get back, tell us how it worked out for you.
wanna enlighten me? (or anyone else that doesnt knwo this method)
and when you get back, tell us how it worked out for you.
I did the 3 match light last night. 3 wooden matches. Do not cut the cigar. Slowly roast the foot of the cigar with each match. Knock off the head of the match after it burns. Always rotating the cigarand concentrating on lighting the center of the cigar. After the third match, blow into the foot of the cigar, now cut the cigar and blow into the foot again. A few puffs and voila,you have a perfectly lit cigar. Worked great for me last night. A few benefits from this: you get no other flavors in the cigar, but the cigar- no sulfur etc. If you are like me, and having a cigar is more than just having a cigar most times(you enjoy lighting it, toasting the foot, watching the burn, trying to disseminate the flavors etc) it's just another part of the cigar experience. You do have to put a few minutes into this though. I won't light this way all the time, but after a long day - and you look forward to a relaxing cigar and libation - it's a lot of fun. Good video on CA on how to do this as well.
Giving this thread a bump, and adding my own thoughts.
A poker can be a very handy thing for unblocking a bad spot in a cigar, but I usually just try to massage the blockage first. If you don't have a poker, with larger cigars an ordinary wooden kebab skewer is an alternative; they're usually too big for smaller ring gauges, but on anything larger than about 50rg they often work well.
Like many of us, I prefer either a butane torch or a disposable butane lighter since butane doesn't impart the naptha-taste of Zippo fluid-type lighters. (That disagreeable taste is a definite reason for blowing out through the cigar, and even then you may get a bit of off-taste when you draw the first couple of times.) I always carry a refillable torch, but I also have a Bic as a backup in case the torch runs dry.
Cigar matches and Spanish cedar spills are nice, but probably better saved for events such as herfs. Always let the sulfur burn away from the match before you bring the flame to the cigar. (Book matches are 'way too short to use for properly lighting a cigar. Besides, I think they just look to "cheap" to use with a good cigar.)
When I'm in the car, the usual rules go out the window; I just apply flame to one end and suction to the other until I start getting smoke.
A poker can be a very handy thing for unblocking a bad spot in a cigar, but I usually just try to massage the blockage first. If you don't have a poker, with larger cigars an ordinary wooden kebab skewer is an alternative; they're usually too big for smaller ring gauges, but on anything larger than about 50rg they often work well.
Like many of us, I prefer either a butane torch or a disposable butane lighter since butane doesn't impart the naptha-taste of Zippo fluid-type lighters. (That disagreeable taste is a definite reason for blowing out through the cigar, and even then you may get a bit of off-taste when you draw the first couple of times.) I always carry a refillable torch, but I also have a Bic as a backup in case the torch runs dry.
Cigar matches and Spanish cedar spills are nice, but probably better saved for events such as herfs. Always let the sulfur burn away from the match before you bring the flame to the cigar. (Book matches are 'way too short to use for properly lighting a cigar. Besides, I think they just look to "cheap" to use with a good cigar.)
When I'm in the car, the usual rules go out the window; I just apply flame to one end and suction to the other until I start getting smoke.
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