Cabinet Quest

[Cigarbear]

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

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 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

Todd

[Paddy]

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 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

Todd

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

[Cigarbear]

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

You did but the shipping was over $100 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

[Cigarbear]

Because the thread is useless without pics...


It's big enough for my sorry ol' ass


The exterior view


The interior view while empty


Upper shelf for singles


Area beneath for boxes

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

[dr. cox]

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

[Cigarbear]

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

[mail man]

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

Keith