1st whole leaf tobacco plug from hydraulic press

Quick post after pulling the 1st whole leaf tobacco plug from the hydraulic press. I have been experimenting with whole leaf tobacco this year. I have a nice aluminum/steel form that makes 3″ x 3″ plugs. The issue is cranking down on with a C-Clamp takes 10 days to get the plug to about 2 1/2″ height for about 200-220 grams of tobacco. So I bought a frame press from Northern Tool and can compress in a few minutes.

You can read more about upgrading the press here https://blog.acefour.org/1st-whole-leaf-tobacco-plug-from-hydraulic-press/. The plug in the blog picture is also a dark fired Kentucky / Virginia blended plug. Just pulled the 1st plug from the hydraulic press and the difference is astounding.