Cigarette Papers

[MC Black 2Participant @mcblack2]

In Stan Bray's book "Milling for the Model Engineer", he recommends using cigarette paper to gauge thickness (a sort of disposable feeler gauge).

I've researched Cigarette Papers and discovered that they are available in different colour boxes with different thicknesses (and flavours).

I've written to Rizla+ and NOT had the courtesy of a response

Does anybody use cigarette papers in this way? If so, what colour box, please?

How thick (in either thou or microns) are they, please?

Very many thanks for taking the time to read this and, if you can, for helping.

I hope that you and your families are – and will remain – well.

MC Black

[MC Black 2Participant @mcblack2]

[vintage engineerParticipant @vintageengineer]

I use green rizlas and they are about 1 thou thick.

[Steve King 5Participant @steveking5]

Red box thickest

Then green

Then blue

The silver

Alot of people use the green but i recommend the red if you can find them.

[Chris Evans 6Participant @chrisevans6]

Green ones live in my tool box.

[Brian HParticipant @brianh50089]

I always use blue ones. I don't suppose it matters as long as you measure them and allow for the thickness when setting up.

I use blue ones because, for general purposes the thickness can be ignored and, I always measure the actual part during machining.

Brian

[MC Black 2Participant @mcblack2]

Very many thanks to you all for replying

Has anybody actually measured the thickness of the different colours?

If so, what are the thicknesses, please?

With best wishes and thanks again.

MC

[Norman BillinghamParticipant @normanbillingham91454]

I use the green ones, though not as feeler gauges. The trick I was taught many years ago for setting a milling cutter was to dampen the paper with a bit of oil (or saliva) and stick it to the work then lower the cutter till the paper is dragged off, when you are within 0.001" of the work.

My green ones measure 0.001" + roughly 0.0002, – 0.0000 using a Mitutoyo micrometer.

[Anonymous]

I use blue papers, which measure 1 thou thick to the width of the line on the micrometer. I use them for quick 'n' dirty setups on the mills and lathe. For most work on the mills I use this:

And this:

Andrew

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by MC Black 2 on 13/07/2020 10:31:48:

[…]

Has anybody actually measured the thickness of the different colours?

If so, what are the thicknesses, please?

[…]

.

Given that they are made from paper, and typically applied to the workpiece by dampening with a lick, I think that might be a trickier project than it first appears.

My working assumption has always been that the blue ones are [were?] near enough to 1thou’ when used for edge-finding.

MichaelG.

[BazParticipant @baz89810]

Have always used green ones, they seem to be more readily available than the other colours, they appear to be pretty much .001” thick.

[Steve CrowParticipant @stevecrow46066]

I use OCB black packet papers for edge finding. They are ultra thin and slow burning so I use them anyway for smoking.

I've just stuck one in my best mic – 0.02mm so just less than a thou.

Rizla blue, my second choice for smoking is 0.025mm – slightly thicker.

Rizla black or silver are about the same as the OCB's.

[egaParticipant @ega]

What ever colour you buy, don't forget your pipe cleaners for cleaning your leadscrew.

My impression is that for crude purposes the paper is assumed to have no thickness eg as an edge finder or to be of constant thickness eg test for flatness with surface plate.

[Iain DownsParticipant @iaindowns78295]

I've come across this and use green papers. I don't think the local co-op had such a variety – and I had no idea which was the thinnest.

The only thing I've found is that moistening the paper (spitting) before applying it doesn't work – it sticks to my finger better than the piece.

Instead I moisten the piece (CT90 or spit) and apply it dry. This is then much more likely to stay on the piece.

Iain

[Steve CrowParticipant @stevecrow46066]

I get them in boxes of fifty from ebay but they sell smaller quantities or individual packets as well.

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

George Thomas stated that he cut his into strips and stored them in a convenient box which he said would last him a lifetime. Bit finickity for my taste but there you go.

regards Martin

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

Posted by ega on 13/07/2020 11:47:19:

What ever colour you buy, don't forget your pipe cleaners for cleaning your leadscrew.

I think I've mentioned this before, but they are now marketed as "fuzzy sticks" for use by children

Rob

[Dennis DParticipant @dennisd]

I served my apprenticeship at a company called Molins who made cigarette manufacturing machines and in all the workshops there would be a reel of cigarette paper to aid with setting up and we always used to work on 1 thou.

Off-topic the same company during the war made the Molins 6 pounder gun fitted to the Mosquito fighter bomber

 

Edited By Dennis D on 13/07/2020 12:38:02

[larry phelan 1Participant @larryphelan1]

If it is only to tell when the cutter is about to contact the work surface, what is wrong with simple toilet paper ?

S-W-M-B-O tells me it,s available in many different grades and she knows !!

Even if it does not suit the job, you can still find a use for it !

Just a thought !

[egaParticipant @ega]

A further thought: what difference to thickness does the gum make?

[MC Black 2Participant @mcblack2]

Very many thanks to everybody who has replied.

Stan Bray wrote to cut off the gummed area!

Green seems to be favourite with more members responding in favour than the other colours put together.

I confess that I was NOT aware that other companies manufactured Cigarette Papers other than Rizla+

I am self-isolating at present so will ask my neighbour, who is doing my grocery shopping at present, to buy me a couple of packets of Green (otherwise Blue).

I don't have a toilet near my shed – so cigarette papers will have to do.

Very many thanks again to you all.

MC Black

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Phew, relieved to see this is a relevant thread…

I've still got half the packet i bought ~20 years ago, so I must use 1 or 2 a year!

Neil

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

I have just learned [from a site which it may be against policy to link] that:

Rizla Blue Rolling Papers are chlorine-free

This may, just conceivably, have an engineering relevance.

MichaelG.

[I.M. OUTAHEREParticipant @i-m-outahere]

What colour are the Metric ones ? I have been looking for these for donkeys years 😁

[GeorgineerParticipant @georgineer]

I had no idea that there were different grades and thicknesses; I must go and have a measure. I've still got a stock of various cigarette papers confiscated from kids when I was a school teacher. I always told them they could reclaim them at the end of year eleven (fifth form in old money) when they left school, but none of them ever did, so they went home with me when I retired, along with a collection of cheap lighters. One kid did send his mother in to negotiate with me for the return of a Zippo lighter – apparently he had 'borrowed' it from his Dad, and was in serious trouble at home for it!

George B.

[Author]

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