Smoking article and manufacture thereof

A method of making a smoking article comprising a rod of smokeable material and a tubular support in which the rod is slidably received, comprising:

• winding a blank of sheet material in a spiral to form the tubular support, such that the tubular support is configured to slidably receive a rod of smokeable material such that the received rod is slidable in the tubular support between a retracted position and an extended, operative position, wherein the blank of sheet material is wound in the spiral at an angle of between 5° and 10° to a longitudinal axis of the tubular support.

Machinery for manufacturing smoking article components including:

• a cutting station for cutting wrapper blanks from a web of sheet material, the cutting station configured to produce blanks having non-rectangular periphery such that they can be wound in a spiral around a smoking article rod to form a tubular support when wound in the spiral at an angle of between 5° and 10° to a longitudinal axis of the tubular support;
• and
• a gluing station to apply adhesive such that the blanks have adhesive applied to edge regions thereof and a major portion of the surface of the blanks remains free of the applied adhesive.