New Top-O-Matic Cigarette Rolling Machine

Before I begin, to answer anyone's question, this injects both kings and 100's, all you do is take a plate off the back of the tobacco area if you're injecting 100's, otherwise no extra prep is required. I bought this to replace an electric injector that was really a house/yard fire waiting to happen. It arrived today and a few things: 1. Strangely, it didn't come in a shipping box, the shipping sticker was just affixed to the retail box. I need to bring this up because if you, like me, have porch pirates to worry about, the box is bright yellow and clearly shows the units picture, I can imagine that'd be as prime a target for a porch pirate as bloody steak is to a shark. I strongly suggest you arrange to be home the day it's supposed to arrive as you might find you have porch pirates when before you had none. 2. As this is a manual loader, your prep for use should include a placemat or something to catch the loose tobacco, otherwise enjoy the rustic tobacco-everywhere look. I see this elsewhere as a complaint, not to me, it's still a ton less messy that a hand injector. Now, with that out of the way, lets get onto the review: Operation is straightforward and fast, all you do is put the tobacco in, put the tube on the end, give it a good crank and you've got yourself a well-injected smoke. The unit is about as big as you'd expect, but not too big. The main body is cast metal, the mechanisms aren't, this isn't a bad thing. Of the whole unit there were only 3 things I noted that weren't metal. The tube clamp has a rubber tip, the ram unit that pushes the blade forward is made of some sort of plastic, and the handle to the crank seems to be a hard plastic... that's it, everything else is metal, it doesn't just FEEL sturdy, it is verifiably sturdy and it's heavy enough to ease the amount of strength needed to crank the handy leading to less over-all strain compared to a hand injector. I've injected 20 smokes so far and can attest to its consistent operation only having 2 tube casualties due to my improper distribution of tobacco. When the smoke is made, the next thing to rate this on (probably the last thing too... I mean, there's really not much to it in all the best of ways) is the quality of the smoke. The unit consistently packs the tubes just firm enough to provide a strong draw, but not too strong. Of the 20 I've successfully injected, each one hasn't contained loose spots, from the tip to the butt the tobacco is pushed in proper leading to no cherry fall that I've encountered. I can't recommend this unit enough, especially just having bought it to replace an electric injector that couldn't properly pack a smoke leading to embers flying all around and many burns being endured. It's good for the price and rolling or injecting your own smokes, the price of admission will be paid back in short order unless you buy high-end tobacco and high-end tubes I guess. Due to how sturdy it is I can see this being put to use for years to come. Also, I figure there's probably someone itching to ask about its weed compatibility... I don't smoke it yet (waiting to get my medical marijuana card) but I don't think it'd be a good idea, rolling/pipe tobacco is typically drier, I could see the stickyness of pot gunking up the mechanism which, in turn, would require regular maintenance including scrubbing down the chamber, the sharp tobacco blade and would be more hassle than its worth, use a bowl, roll one or use something you don't care if you have to throw away.