Cabinet Quest

I've filled my 160 qt cooler, the large desktop humi, the small desktop humi, and the little 15 qt I got for overflow. I have an area about 36" x 24" x 52" where I keep my cigars and could stuff another large cooler next to the current one but I figured I'd finally build the cabinet I've been planning. With interior dimensions of 32.5" x 24" x 46.5" I should have enough space for my collection plus a little growing room. I'm using furniture grade 3/4" ply for the exterior so I can veneer it at later date if I want to pull it out of the closet. I didn't really price out the spanish cedar and goddamn is that some expensive stuff. From previous posts, asthetics would be the only reason not to use deconstructed cigar boxes (except Acids of course :smiley11:). Rather than spend the hundreds on the commercial stuff I can prolly scrounge enough from the local B&Ms. The other question is how soon could I use it? That's to say, if I can't find/afford enough cedar to fully line the interior can I start using it before I get it completely lined? I know the cedar helps keep the beetles out and helps maintain the humidity but I have a bunch of boxes in addition to whatever I can get to line the walls. Clearly unpacking the humi to add more cedar lining is far from ideal. The only other concern I can see would be warping and/or expansion at the joints. If I seal the interior surfaces with a heavy coat of polyurethane that seems like it would keep down the absorbtion into the walls.

If you do some research I am sure you will be able to find 3/4 ply already veneered with spanish ceadar on one side. I would look around a bit of course to see what your options are. Another possibility may be using mohogany wood for the interior. Since that is closely related to spanish ceadar that just might work well for you. Otherwise You could line your cabinet with glass I suppose and have ceadar shelves or something along that line. I am also considering building a cabinet but I have yet to start on it. Roger.

So HD has luan ply that's water resistant. Supposedly it's the adhesive between the layers that's resistant. Though I need to do a little more research this could be perfect. It's less than $12 for a 4' x 8' sheet which is better than the $200 for spanish cedar. And if the adhesive truly is water resistant and it's not a problem for off-gassing or fumes, then I wouldn't have to put the coats of poly on the inside of the exterior box before lining and seasoning. With the size, I can't fit it into my finish room and it would take a while to dry. I couldn't do anything in the shop that would generate dust while it dried. If this works out I could have the humi ready to season by next weekend!

After reading this post I have been looking into making my own humidor cabinet as well. So are you saying that you want to line with the luan instead of spanish cedar? From the small amount of research I did it seems like it could be a possibility if you had enough cedar from old boxes and what not to give off that wonderful cedar/humidor smell. I just don't know if the luan would be able to hold the humidity as well. Tell me what you find out or decide to do and maybe we could bounce ideas off each other.

Also do you have some sketches or a plan that I could take a look at? I will throw mine up later and possibly help each other out.

Thanks,
Brennen

This might be why he needs a walk-in!:...
http://www.cigarsmokers.com/threads/...516#post146516

:smiley37: :smiley4:

My buddy is picking this cabinet up this weekend as a conversion project. I like it.:smiley20:

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218...&lpid=&cat=362

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Originally Posted by slcraiders

My buddy is picking this cabinet up this weekend as a conversion project. I like it.:smiley20:

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218...&lpid=&cat=362

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That's purty! I was looking for a conversion possibility but I couldn't find anything I thought would work for a reasonable price. So far I should be in for about $100 including the ply for the carcass and the luan interior lining, the sealant, two additional pounds of beads and a fan for circulation.

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Originally Posted by EdgeMan

This might be why he needs a walk-in!:...
http://www.cigarsmokers.com/threads/...516#post146516

:smiley37: :smiley4:

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Hello, my name is Todd and I'm a cbid addict...:smiley36:

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Originally Posted by dr. cox

After reading this post I have been looking into making my own humidor cabinet as well. So are you saying that you want to line with the luan instead of spanish cedar? From the small amount of research I did it seems like it could be a possibility if you had enough cedar from old boxes and what not to give off that wonderful cedar/humidor smell. I just don't know if the luan would be able to hold the humidity as well. Tell me what you find out or decide to do and maybe we could bounce ideas off each other.

Also do you have some sketches or a plan that I could take a look at? I will throw mine up later and possibly help each other out.

Thanks,
Brennen

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I keep my wine and my cigars in the closet of my music room so I wasn't concerned with how it looked. I did confirm that the ply doesn't have the formaldahyde glue. The carcass is 48" x 34" x 24" and there's a small shelf about 12" from the top. I really needed to get it done and don't have any furniture experience so, rather than mess around with rabbits or mortise/tenon joints I used butt joints and ton of screws. The wood had cupped a little and I don't have clamps long enough to glue. I spaced the screws about 1.5-2 inches apart to ensure as tight a seal as I could. Then I sealed the joints with silicone aquarium caulk. To attach the door I cut about a 3" wide section off the door slab and attached it to the front like I did with the top, sides and back. I used cabinet hinges on the exterior, so no mortise to bother with, and hung it as tight to the front piece as possible. There's a little give in the hinges but not so much to be a problem. At least not yet :smiley36: I let it sit open for a bit to let some of the moisture go after sitting in my shop for so long. After a couple days I closed it up with a couple pounds of beads and a hygrometer to see where it would settle. After about 10 days it was sitting at about 67% on the shelf and 70% in the lower section. I emptied my coolers and humis last weekend and it's stayed steady at 65%. At this point, I have a fan going on the shelf and 4-4.5 lbs of beads. I have another 2 lbs of beads waiting for more distilled water and I may end up getting another fan for the bottom. It's 19.6 cubic feet so 6 lbs is a bit more than necessary but the bigger the buffer the better. That's why I want to line the interior with luan. It'll still buffer the humidity at $11/4x8 sheet vs $200/4x8 sheet of spanish cedar. I found a poster on another board who used oak ply without any lining and didn't experience any humidty problems or bad flavors imparted to the sticks. Mine is already losing the oak smell and picking up the tobacco scent. I have pics but left my thumb drive at home. I'll post some this weekend hopefully. It's big enough that I could sit in it quite comfortably prior to adding the shelf :smiley20:

Todd

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Originally Posted by Cigarbear

I keep my wine and my cigars in the closet of my music room so I wasn't concerned with how it looked. I did confirm that the ply doesn't have the formaldahyde glue. The carcass is 48" x 34" x 24" and there's a small shelf about 12" from the top. I really needed to get it done and don't have any furniture experience so, rather than mess around with rabbits or mortise/tenon joints I used butt joints and ton of screws. The wood had cupped a little and I don't have clamps long enough to glue. I spaced the screws about 1.5-2 inches apart to ensure as tight a seal as I could. Then I sealed the joints with silicone aquarium caulk. To attach the door I cut about a 3" wide section off the door slab and attached it to the front like I did with the top, sides and back. I used cabinet hinges on the exterior, so no mortise to bother with, and hung it as tight to the front piece as possible. There's a little give in the hinges but not so much to be a problem. At least not yet :smiley36: I let it sit open for a bit to let some of the moisture go after sitting in my shop for so long. After a couple days I closed it up with a couple pounds of beads and a hygrometer to see where it would settle. After about 10 days it was sitting at about 67% on the shelf and 70% in the lower section. I emptied my coolers and humis last weekend and it's stayed steady at 65%. At this point, I have a fan going on the shelf and 4-4.5 lbs of beads. I have another 2 lbs of beads waiting for more distilled water and I may end up getting another fan for the bottom. It's 19.6 cubic feet so 6 lbs is a bit more than necessary but the bigger the buffer the better. That's why I want to line the interior with luan. It'll still buffer the humidity at $11/4x8 sheet vs $200/4x8 sheet of spanish cedar. I found a poster on another board who used oak ply without any lining and didn't experience any humidty problems or bad flavors imparted to the sticks. Mine is already losing the oak smell and picking up the tobacco scent. I have pics but left my thumb drive at home. I'll post some this weekend hopefully. It's big enough that I could sit in it quite comfortably prior to adding the shelf :smiley20:

Todd

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Todd,
I thought I send you a URL where you could get 4x8 Spanish cedar for $78.00

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Originally Posted by Paddy

Todd,
I thought I send you a URL where you could get 4x8 Spanish cedar for $78.00

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You did but the shipping was over $100 :smiley3: Luan isn't the preferred species but is a close second as far as hygroscopic properties. It doesn't impart the same smell but I have a bunch of boxes and a few random pieces of spanish cedar I had used in my cooler for shelves. With the ambient humidity around 50-55% and the interior holding at 65% without the lining, I'm confident it'll maintain well enough. Summer is always the hardest of course so I may change my tune in a couple months :smiley36:

Because the thread is useless without pics...

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/DSCN8129.jpg
It's big enough for my sorry ol' ass :smiley36:

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/DSCN8135.jpg
The exterior view

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/DSCN8133.jpg
The interior view while empty

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/DSCN8136.jpg
Upper shelf for singles

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/DSCN8138.jpg
Area beneath for boxes

Now there's too much room...I wonder what's up for auction...:smiley36:

Wow. Much bigger than mine. Looks nice though. Good job man.

Thanks! I tend to be a bit excessive in my hobbies :smiley4: The real test will be this summer.

Very nice cigarbear...I mean the cabinet...not you :smiley14:
I just wanted to make sure you didn't get the wrong idea, with my sig tag and all :smiley4:

Keith

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Originally Posted by mail man

Very nice cigarbear...I mean the cabinet...not you :smiley14:
I just wanted to make sure you didn't get the wrong idea, with my sig tag and all :smiley4:

Keith

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As long as you don't replace the current pic with your personal interpretation :smiley40: I can't even imagine what mine will end up when the pass arrives... :smiley36:

Todd

Are you using any fans or anything? Or is it just drop in your beads and everything works?

Just thought about that one, going to be ordering the beads for mine any day now.

I looked for an oust fan or something similar but didn't see anything that worked as well. I ended up buying one along with the last 2 lbs of beads. It's $12 something from heartfelt and the prod desc says the fans are no longer produced. I don't know for sure that its true but the fans run cool & quiet, last long on a single D battery (included by the way) and it evened out the upper and lower Rh almost instantly. I was considering getting another but the one seems to be working well enough. I have it on the shelf right next to one of the bead packs.