Yeah, just from trying my own hand at blending different tobaccos I've often wondered why anybody messes with it. The lowliest tobacco blender does SUCH a better job at coming up with something that tastes decent and doesn't fry the tongue. You're certainly not going to save any money if you consider your time worth anything, and you're probably not going to come up with a blend that's anything better than 'smokable'. I've read threads on here and other forums that pretty much back this up. If you find it fun to mess with and appreciate the challenge (and it certainly is a challenge) to actually create something you can use, that's one thing. However, being the consumer type that I am, I don't foresee myself ever venturing into it. Building the equipment however, would be something I could get into. I'd have built a flake slicer by now if plug tobacco wasn't so rare and hard to come by.