Large Ashtrays

[Cspurgeo]

All of those items reflect exceptional craftsmanship. Just curious, is the micrometer functional and accurate? Other than the ashtrays, are any of the other items your work? I assume your father or someone else involved made most of these items.

The micrometer is functional but not accurate because of the nature of wood. Most of work on the blog is my dads, but I have been helping him with things like this my whole life. I am now starting to do my own work, as you can see.

Definitely one of a kind, but too often I see those small brass hinges fail on those kinds of humidors. It really should have a piano hinge.

Rather than creating a lip on the lid to match up with the bottom, I see how you added the piece of cedar to the lid, and that it fits into the interior. I'm thinking if everything is not lining up just right, it might not close well. I don't believe I've ever seen it done that way. How is the seal on it?

Thanks for the information! This was our first humidor, so at some points we were lost. We weren't exactly sure which hinges to use, but as it got closer to christmas, thats what we ended up with. When we make another, we'll defiantly look at better hinges.

[hed]

And very nice work indeed. You and your dad have skills!

[ggiese]

I'm actually the one he made that humidor for. The seal is better than all my other 10 humidors believe it or not, and the hinges haven't been a problem. I can't let the lid fall back, as it does not stand open, but it was one heck of a Christmas present! I'm still waiting for one of those ashtrays, though

No doubt - a very thoughtful and nice Christmas present. I would not balk at receiving it - it's a classy piece. However - if someone is going to go through the trouble of creating a beautiful piece like that, consideration should be given to any weak points (the lid hinge and seal are definitely weak points in any humidor).

To help with the hinge and lid falling back, you might want to consider these hinges:

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/200...ant-Hinge.aspx

They're pretty doggone cheap, decent looking but need to be recessed into the wood. They will definitely hold the lid well and should not fail.

These are a bit more expensive, but a bit easier to install:

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/200...l-wStay-2.aspx



If that is a first effort at creating a humidor - KUDO's! Very nice work!

[CptnBlues63]

The micrometer is functional but not accurate because of the nature of wood. Most of work on the blog is my dads, but I have been helping him with things like this my whole life. I am now starting to do my own work, as you can see.





Thanks for the information! This was our first humidor, so at some points we were lost. We weren't exactly sure which hinges to use, but as it got closer to christmas, thats what we ended up with. When we make another, we'll defiantly look at better hinges.

I'm still curious if you're considering making the ashtrays and if so, approximately how much you'd charge?

I'd be VERY interested in one of your ashtrays......................

[Cspurgeo]

I'm still curious if you're considering making the ashtrays and if so, approximately how much you'd charge?

I'd be VERY interested in one of your ashtrays......................

I have the one from this post on etsy.com. Heres the link. http://www.etsy.com/listing/83205761...-cigar-ashtray.


I can make almost any shape, type, or size ashtray you can think of. If you guys have any ideas I'd love to hear them.

[hed]

Ouch!

[ggiese]

Ouch!

Ditto!!!

[ch3360]

Nice but a little to pricey for my ash!

[kevin7]

Nice but pine is not exactly exotic wood around my parts.

[badwhale]

There's more than pine in there. It's a nice piece, and when you're talking "artisan" work, it may be worth the asking price. Again, it's nice but it looks to me, IMHO like something drawn up on CADD and done with a CNC machine.

Now, I think you should go to the next level, and turn one out of burl wood with an irregular edge that just happens to have cigar resting points in it. THAT would be really cool & more artistic.

Will

[Cspurgeo]

There's more than pine in there. It's a nice piece, and when you're talking "artisan" work, it may be worth the asking price. Again, it's nice but it looks to me, IMHO like something drawn up on CADD and done with a CNC machine.

Now, I think you should go to the next level, and turn one out of burl wood with an irregular edge that just happens to have cigar resting points in it. THAT would be really cool & more artistic.

Will

Great guess badwhale, it was made on my dads CNC machine, but we still had to put it on the lathe to get the tool marks out. We probably could have made it faster on the lathe, but we just wanted to see how the router would do. This is only the second ashtray I've made so I haven't really gotten into anything crazy yet.

I don't know if any of you do any woodworking, but that takes alot of effort to make. I'm not trying to justify the price by the amount of work I have in it, but thats what I thought would be a good place to start. I'm glad I got your guys reaction though, because I had no idea what they might be worth. Its also very hard to tell how big it actually is until you have it sitting infront of you, the pictures just don't do it justice.

This one is actually douglas fir and walnut.

Thanks!

[ggiese]

Great guess badwhale, it was made on my dads CNC machine, but we still had to put it on the lathe to get the tool marks out. We probably could have made it faster on the lathe, but we just wanted to see how the router would do. This is only the second ashtray I've made so I haven't really gotten into anything crazy yet.

I don't know if any of you do any woodworking, but that takes alot of effort to make. I'm not trying to justify the price by the amount of work I have in it, but thats what I thought would be a good place to start. I'm glad I got your guys reaction though, because I had no idea what they might be worth. Its also very hard to tell how big it actually is until you have it sitting infront of you, the pictures just don't do it justice.

This one is actually douglas fir and walnut.

Thanks!

While Walnut is a harder wood than Doug Fir, Doug Fir is fairly soft.

I would suggest if you're crafting ashtrays you might want to consider a much harder "exotic" wood. Not only will it stand up better to a burning cigar, it will also be more attractive at that price.

[cinda]

I don't know if any of you do any woodworking, but that takes alot of effort to make. I'm not trying to justify the price by the amount of work I have in it, but thats what I thought would be a good place to start. I'm glad I got your guys reaction though, because I had no idea what they might be worth. Its also very hard to tell how big it actually is until you have it sitting infront of you, the pictures just don't do it justice.

This one is actually douglas fir and walnut.

Thanks!

The ash tray is very nice. My husband is a carpenter by trade and he pretty much can build anything if it's made of wood. I have spent a lot of time looking at cigar gear in the past 5 years due to my desire to add an unique niche of our on going antique business. It's my opinion that if you can't keep the price within the range of even a trendy cigar ashtray your not going to move too many ashtrays no matter how difficult it may be to make. Who knows you may be able to sell yourself as a artist sign those ashtrays and make people commission them from you.... it's all about perception.

[CptnBlues63]

I have the one from this post on etsy.com. Heres the link. http://www.etsy.com/listing/83205761...-cigar-ashtray.


I can make almost any shape, type, or size ashtray you can think of. If you guys have any ideas I'd love to hear them.

Sadly, that's a little out of my price range.

I won't argue that any time an artisan/crafstman takes the time necessary to do a proper job of whatever it is they do, it's worth more than the stuff they pump out in large quantity in a factory.

Your price doesn't seem exhorbitant to me, it's just a little more than I can afford for an ashtray.