The types of tobaccos I picked were broadleaf scraps and shadeleaf scraps. Both are grown for cigar making, with shadeleaf being a very high quality grade. Scraps seemed ideal because they are cheaper and plan was to grind it anyway. Both are cured (not sure if air, flue, etc) but not fermented. Perfect for a test! Box arrived yesterday afternoon. Nothing fancy to look at, about a foot (0.3 meter) square. Inside were two plain plastic bags shoved to the brim with what looked like leaf tobacco that had been shoved in a garbage compactor for shipping. The smell was strong even with sealed bags. I pulled a bit off the shadeleaf, It was surprisingly moist, like pipe tobacco from a humidor. It bended easily without crumbling and was very pliable. First thing… taste it 
Popped a bit (much smaller than a pinch of dip) into my mouth. The flavor was impressively mild. I know tobacco bite, I used to chew in the army *cough* 30 years ago. There was no bite, the there was little to no salivation, there was nothing to spit. So today was the big day. Girlfriend was out of the house, it’s time to rip up the kitchen. I have a variety of adapted tools that I use for herb processing (herbalism is one of my entrepreneurial persuits). First thing to try is the steel burr grinder. Pulled a handfull of leaf, shoved it in the grinder, powered on. 15 second and it had jammed. Much to my surprise the leaves were still half bundled in cotton string. In pulling the string out of the grinder, I also discovered a chunk of duct tape which looks like it was used as some sort of tag. 2nd try at the grinder, we’re still not feeding correctly. I fished out a bunch of stems, some about 2 feet (0.6 meter) long. Okay, skip the grinder. Maybe the food chopper would do. Load up the tobacco from the grinder into a counter-top food chopper (sort of like a food processor but a bit smaller). This really starts to work, but I’m noticing the particles of tobacco are not very small, and the chopper is getting hot. Time for plan-B. Out of the closet comes an 18 speed Osterizer blender. In goes the tobacco… chug chug chug. Its now down the size of C/S (cut and sifted) grade herbs. Back into the grinder. Poof, dust everywhere. A little smaller, more like what some call tea-bag cut. End result, about an 8 fluid ounce cup of almost ground sniff. Nowhere near fine, but easily noseable (is that a word?) Cleanup has me wondering about moisture level. Everything is coated with a brown sticky dust that’s very high in nicotine (next time I’ll wear a shirt. I think I got trans-dermal exposure while washing dishes, either that or from taking the cover off the grinder too soon and breathing dust. One for the gurus. From herb experience, this tobacco is around 15% moisture. Would drying it make it more crumbly and hence easier for the chopper to chew up?
Well I’m SURE it would… that sounds interesting I’d like to try this sometime…
I would like to stick my finger in the grinder and snuff my blood but the grinder won’t operate but with a severed finger.
Sounds like fun, definitely dry it out first next time.
I would dry the leaves to a point where it will crumble with ease. Wet leaves always jam any instrument used for grinding. You won’t loose any flavour, in fact, with the fluid gone, the flavour will intensify. Try using a ordinary herb grinder first to get your stuff managable. Then into the burr to get it real fine. I wish you all the luck. Making your own snuff is so rewarding. I will PM you my postal address!!!
I am old school in my approach. I methodically remove the stem from the leaf, into oven at low temp at 160 degrees for two hours then grind dry leaf in a blade grinder. Here is the trick, remove the blade from the grinder and put a proper razor edge on the tips! Use tools to replace the blade since it should now be wicked sharp. The resulting grind should be pleasing. I now spritz the snuff flour with a micro mist of water and a “Kosher” salt mix. Half cup of water to one tea spoon of “Kosher” salt. You just want to rehydrate with the salty water, just a hint mind you, this will adjust the ph up and the "Kosher "salt has the correct buffers. Let it rest and mellow for a day or two, then dry it again at low temp over long time. Regrind in chopper. I place in a glass and stretch a pantyhose over it, the amount of stretch defines the sieve, and shake it through. Snuff able snuff comes out! You have now reduced the moisture, enhanced the PH for nicotine adsorption, caramelized some sugars, and given it a proper grind. This is basic straight tobacco snuff.
Great info, thanks! @PieterClaassen works for me. Give me a few months to figure it out.
Tried working on blendable herbs as flavorings. Dried spearmint… Looked good, perfect powder, big sniff. Ugh, terrible! The mint was overpowered by the smell of stale lawn-clippings. That is not blending with anything. Bleh!
Dried spearmint will work with tobacco. 1/8 tsp mint to 1 tablespoon of tobacco is a good starting point. With a new tobacco, I dry a test batch in the sun or at low temp (about 120 deg. F) and try it straight first. Might find one of those rare tobaccos that make a fine snuff as is altho’ most do benefit from heat treatment like Whalen mentions.