What is this?

Heh.  "Whatis this?" could be the title of some profound subject, with paragraphs of words expounding upon some newly realized revelation.  But, today, "what is this" means just that.  I'll bet you don't know what this is.  There are a select few with the knowledge to take a quick look at the underside of this machine, and 'just know' what the heck this is.

It is a machine.  A manually activated and powered machine.  It is designed for repetitive operations.  Some parts have needed re-design to improve performance given the amount of force and the number of  cycles they endure.

Here is one of the raw materials the machine processes.  If  this doesn't give a clue, read on.

Another raw material for the machine.  'Smooth', it says.  Not sure if this refers to it's physical texture, or the flavor, or what.  I only know that it's 15 USD per pound.

Back the the 70's I smoked, and had hard times.  This is the Rizla machine I bought back then.  It came in handy this July, when I had even harder times.

OK, this is the top of the Premiere Supermatic machine.  If you still don't know what it is, read on.

All right all ready.  It's a cigarette machine, a tube injector, a cigarette stuffer!  Not anything to be proud of owning, but a testament to man's will to be self sufficient.  As I said, it is well made.  My reason for writing this is that it started to malfunction today.  It is a bit susceptible to the texture of the raw material fed to it especially with respect to humidity.  A slight adjustment to the internals returned it's operation closer to normal, but about 5 USD of parts will ensure weeks or months more of operation.

Not that I hope to be using it that long.  It supports a filthy, nasty, self destructive habit.  Nonetheless I aspire to the principles it supports:

• The right to avoid local and federal taxes.
• The right to repair.  This company offers a comprehensive schematic of the machine, as well as a reasonably priced replacement parts list.  Try that with your car manufacturer!.
• The right to Do It Yourself!  I'm gonna pay a huge company to do the work of stuffing paper tubes with a carcinogen?

Joe Wronski November 12, 2010