Does your blade leave a clean enough edge that you can just glue and go? I stopped sanding seams years ago once I started backing up my cuts with a scrap piece to kill tearout, saves a ton of time.

Butcher paper still steams the meat just like foil does, it just breathes a little more. Once that paper goes on at 160 or so, the surface stays wet for the last 3 or 4 hours and you never really get new bark, you just keep the bark you built early. I ran 6 butts last summer, side by side, two naked the whole way, two paper, two foil, and the naked ones had the best crust by a mile. The trick is just running your pit at 250 to 275 and letting that stall drag out, it always breaks around 170 to 175.

Tbh a 4 lb rounding hammer is the move when the power hammer craps out, you just gotta keep the steel hot and take smaller bites. Had my 50 lb Little Giant shear a key on a gate job once and finished the twists by hand, and yeah the scrolls came out tighter than what the dies give you. Six hours vs 90 minutes sucks but a clean piece beats a fast one every time.