New Tupperdor

So I've been putzing along with a couple of 20 ct humis from Cbid now. Last night I got my lighter and beads in and started thinking about needing more space. Then I realized I have a package on the way from funkycold5 from a "Buy me These" and also a rather diverse shipment from Cbid due next week. Suddenly my storage space is wayyyyy too small.

So I didn't want to get a cooler since I don't have the need for one, and hopefully not having all that empty space will keep me from splurging on something to fill it with. I don't have the funds to buy a nice sized humidor. So I decided that a nice sized tupperdor would work perfect.

Here I am going to chronicle my "construction" of the tupperdor so y'all can let me know if I did anything wrong, or right, or just so other new guys with limited funds can have an example.

spiffy

p.s. I'm a total newbie so take this for what its worth.

So first off I went to Wally World (that's Wal-Mart) and hunted for supplies. What I was looking for was a good sized container, some plastic trays, and some shallow containers for the beads.

I apologize in advance for the somewhat crappy pictures, I had to use my phone.

One of the biggest problems with tupperdors (and coolerdors) is that they are either airtight, which can cause problems if left closed for a long time, or they don't seal at all, which makes it difficult to stabilize the RH. Thinking about this I bought a container that doesn't really seal, and then some weather stripping tape (thin foam tape) to put around the edges. Hopefully this will create enough of a seal to keep the environment stable, but still allow some measure of breathability.
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/9...erstripyz4.jpg

So...here is my haul:
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/5...terialseo6.jpg

1---24 qt plastic box with locking handles
2---wide plastic trays
3---narrow plastic trays
1---package 3/4" wide sponge weatherstrip tape
2---plastic soap dishes

I also got a gallon of distilled water, 2 additional soap dishes (for the small humis), and a small spray bottle to wet the beads.

The total cost for all this was $13.52

Next up...the "construction"

spiffy

The first thing I did was to attach the weatherstrip tape to the inside of the lid of the box. This stuff is self-adhesive so it was just cut, peel and stick:

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/4566/sealingir0.jpg


Here it is finished:

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/6954/topdonenp4.jpg


As you can see the lid still fits and the locking handles hold it down tight, hopefully creating a nice seal, but still somewhat breathable.

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/1...aledbingt4.jpg


Next I used a 5/8" spade bit to drill some holes in the bottoms of all the trays to make sure air could move around inside the box. It was hot outside (I'm in Houston) so I stayed indoors. I used the pan so that all the plastic shavings didn't get stuck in the carpet.

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/5738/drillingrp2.jpg


Next up...humidification!!

spiffy

For humidity control I am using beads. Apparently these are the wonder-kid of humidification. They have been referred to on this site as the Ron-Co of humidifiers, "Just set it, and forget it!!".

For this box I am using a half pound, which should be more than enough according to the site where I got them, heartfelt.

To store them, I am using the advice of many on this board and using cheap plastic travel soap dishes. Some people drill holes in the top so the beads will stay in, but since I'm not planning on traveling with this box, I just took the tops off.

Here are the beads and the soap dishes:

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/9830/beadsvp5.jpg


And here are the "topless" dishes, beads, distilled water, and little spray bottle:

http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/8...erbeadsqb3.jpg


Here's how everything fits into the box. 2 narrow trays and a wide tray on the bottom and 1 of each on top. There will be a soap dish full of beads in each wide tray.

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/4959/traysinmo6.jpg

Next up...the Finally!!

Finally, I put my meager collection (so far) of sticks into the trays and loaded up the soap dishes with beads. A few sprays of distilled water and most of the beads had turned clear (cooooooool). After putting everything into the box and sealing it up, here's the final product.

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/3931/alldoneaw7.jpg

You can barely see it but there's a digital hygrometer in the top right corner. It was about $6.50 at Wal-Mart in the garden section.

So, to total things up:

Tupperdor supplies: $13.50
Humidification beads: $17.00
Digital hygrometer: $6.50

Total to store a couple hundred cigars: $37.00

Not bad. You can go cheaper by getting florists foam (the wet kind) and using a mix of distilled water and propylene glycol (available at any pharmacy), but the convenience of the beads made it worth it for me.

So here is my budding little collection, just waiting to be filled, emptied, and filled again. The two little humis are the 20 counts I got with samplers from Cbid. One is a cigar band mosaic, the other is a 5 Vegas 'A'. Both have small soap dishes with beads as well.

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/6928/allqf8.jpg

Hope this is helpful to someone out there.

spiffy

:smiley1:

Shoulda got a cooler. They work great.

Let us know how your project comes out.

that is very cool man but i'm gonna second what CLS said... you are gonna need a cooler, no matter how much you don't think you need one... its coming :smiley20:

but that is a nice little tupperdor to use for the moment :smiley1:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by boomshay

that is very cool man but i'm gonna second what CLS said... you are gonna need a cooler, no matter how much you don't think you need one... its coming :smiley20:

but that is a nice little tupperdor to use for the moment :smiley1:

---

I'm just hoping that not having the extra space will limit my cigar purchasing until I can actually afford what I am buying. Maybe I'm just fooling myself, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

spiffy

Nice work. And yes you're fooling yourself, but what the hell fill it up. Then get the cooler and fill it up also. :smiley20:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by nhcigarfan

Nice work. And yes you're fooling yourself, but what the hell fill it up. Then get the cooler and fill it up also. :smiley20:

---

Going to have to give this the +3, or is it +4 now?

If you're able to stick with what you got, you have much better self control than most of us.

VERY nice indeed! That's the engineer in you. I wouldn't have thought of half of what you did. Good job.

Trust me though. Once you fill up your tuppedor, you will say to yourself, man I need more space and sooner than later you will break down and get a coolidor. More space or no space, you will not be able to stop buying cigars :smiley2: There's just too many to try. Get this sampler, that sampler, then you have to buy a box of your favorites, then buy a box of your NEW favorites. Never ends. IT consumes us all.

Good luck.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by spiffykyle

I'm just hoping that not having the extra space will limit my cigar purchasing until I can actually afford what I am buying. Maybe I'm just fooling myself, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

spiffy

---

That's very inventive. A cooler would accomplish much the same, butI like that you put some thought into trying something different. Let me know how well it is working out.

thats a neat set up you have there! Good luck to you and your will power :smiley20:

nice setup. when you need to grow more, you'll grow more. Ive been blowing clouds about three months or more now and have ordered my second humi a hundred count, and allready wish id went bigger. Im not sold on coolers, I really like the wood humi's. Wish they didn't cost so much. .... Brian :smiley41: