"Out Of Cigars" Cigar Band Project #1

[Silound]

I did one of these a few years ago, here's a pointer or two I learned.

To ease the pain of the process, stick anywhere from 20-50 bands flattened out in a folded piece of paper (to protect them) in a leather wallet (bi-fold works best) and carry it around with you for a day in your back pocket even. You can use your everyday wallet if you like, or carry a special one. Sit on it like you normally would, etc etc. By the end of they day, those bands will be flat like glass, and MUCH easier to glue down neatly. Be sure to place them where they lay flat in the wallet...if you put them in the fold of the wallet, they just get a mean fold to them.

Buy a rubber ink roller. Trust me, nothing flattens a band out perfectly after placing it like one of these. They're about 5 bucks at Walmart in the craft area. Just be sure to keep it clean so it doesn't stick to bands and peel them back up (you can hold one end of the band with a fingertip to keep it positioned and roll the other end flat, and switch sides).



***TEST THIS A FEW TIMES TO PERFECT IT FIRST***
(It took me about 5-6 attempts to perfect this method, but this is what I did in the long run)

Thin your glue out if you use white glue, because it's way too thick and the bands will absorb too much water while it drys. Take 3 parts white glue and 1 part warm water, mix well. Do a few test strips on a piece of cardboard or paper before you glue bands to make sure you have your consistency right. Use a cotton swab to smear a *thin* layer of glue on the back of the band (emphasis on *super thin*), place it, and flatten them out. Use an electric hair dryer set to a low heat from a moderate distance and carefully blow in circles over the area you just glued. I worked in groups of 20 bands a day, just because that's how many I could carry in my wallet

The reason I eventually started using this method was to reduce the amount of moisture that the bands were exposed to by forcing it to dry and cure faster, thus the bands didn't get that "wet ripple" to them as they cured.



Personally, if I did this type of project again (it's coming soon!), I'm definitely going to research into a non-water based glue that I don't have to jump through as many hoops over to make a quality job of it.