Introduction: How to Use the Top-O-Matic to Make a Cigarette

Why Use an Injector?

Using a tobacco injector machine lowers the cost of smoking. Cigarette filter tubes cost between $2-$5 per box, which comes with enough tubes to make a carton’s worth of cigarettes. Tobacco prices vary depending upon brand, up to $30 per carton’s worth of tobacco. Compare that overall price—a maximum of $35—to a manufactured carton’s price, generally $50 and up. Making one’s own cigarettes gives a smoker the chance to customize his or her cigarettes as well. There are many varieties of loose tobacco and tubes a smoker may choose from to make the desired cigarette. Below are instructions for using a widely-available model of cigarette injector machines: the Top-O-Matic.

Tools Needed:

  • Top-O-Matic Cigarette Making Machine
  • Dry, Loose Tobacco
  • Cigarette Filter Tubes, 100mm or King Size

Step 1: Rotate Hand Crank to Open Position

Push hand crank counter-clockwise as far as it will allow, so that it is in the open position.

NOTE: If you wish to make 100 mm cigarettes, make sure that you remove the size plate and are using 100 mm tubes. If you wish to make king-size cigarettes, leave the size plate in place, and ensure that your tubes are king size.

Step 2: Pinch Tobacco

Pinch a pile of tobacco about 2 inches long, 1 inch wide, and 1 inch tall.

Step 3: Fill the Chamber

Fill the ends of the tobacco chamber with the tobacco, then fill the center. It should be filled to the top from end-to-end, but not compacted. Press into the chamber to feel the density; it should have some give, like a pillow. However, it should not be so empty that your finger touches the bottom. Add or remove tobacco as necessary.

Step 4: Align the Filter Tube

Take a cigarette filter tube and align the open end with the tube nozzle. Carefully place the tube over the nozzle.

NOTE: If the tube gets misshapen in the process, remove it from the nozzle and run your thumb and forefinger from filter to end to straighten the paper. Then do this again, at a right angle to the first run.

Step 5: Hold and Crank

Hold the stability handle with your left hand while grabbing the hand crank with your right hand. Pull the crank back, in a clockwise motion, until it has reached as far as it will allow; it should stop just short of the tobacco chamber.

NOTE: If you experience difficulty in pulling the hand crank due to resistance, you may have overfilled the tobacco chamber. Reverse the direction to re-open the chamber and remove some of the tobacco. Then try Step 5 again.

Step 6: Pack Cigarette

The cigarette will fall from the tube nozzle. Take it between your thumb and forefinger and tap it gently, filter side down, onto a hard surface.

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