Building a Cabinet Humidor Next Winter

[PrairieSmoke]

I bumped into a friend of mine at the local brewery this weekend. He is an organic farmer who does woodworking during our long Minnesota winters. 

Here is a sample of his work:

Anyhow, we got to talking about how I had been hoping to get an Aristocrat, but Bob retired. He said he would love to do a project with me next winter. 

He has done box humidors before and cabinets like you see in the picture above. What do I need to know for planning the project that is specific to a humidor?

I’ve seen some pictures where people are sandwiching insulation between the interior and exterior panels. 

Does anyone know whether Bob did stuff like that, or is it just solid wood?

Also, if you have a cabinet humidor, anything specific you have really liked or disliked about the dimensions you chose?

Im looking to go big and probably purchase a set it and forget it system for humidification. I also plan to research the petltier thermoelectric cooling systems.

Its going to be hard to wait for a year, but I figured I can at least get started on the planning  stage.

Thanks!

Edit: Also, I posted this before thinking about the Humidor Tutorial subforum. Mods feel free to move this is more appropriate there. 

[TBird55]

I would call Bob. Can't speak for him, but I bet he would be willing to answer any questions you have.

[PrairieSmoke]

Thanks for the advice @TBird55

I’m planning on contacting him about the humidification and the cooling anyway, might as well see if he will let me pick his brain. 

[Lucass111]

I would love to take on a project like this sometime in the future. Keep us posted when things start to develop. I would love to see the progress.

[El Presidente]

1 hour ago, Lucass111 said:

I would love to take on a project like this sometime in the future. Keep us posted when things start to develop. I would love to see the progress.

[PrairieSmoke]

3 hours ago, Lucass111 said:

I would love to take on a project like this sometime in the future. Keep us posted when things start to develop. I would love to see the progress.

Will do. I did speak with Bob today and he was more than willing to help me with any info I needed. ?

[CigarAsh]

Having built my own and having talked to Bob a little about it (bought humidification system from him) - he uses mostly plywoods with nice veneers on them for the large panel pieces in his humidors. Too much movement in solid wood, especially across large pieces and even more particularly when you're talking about actively humidifying the interior of the cabinet. 

I basically did solid wood frames with veneered plywood panels for my humidor. With veneers you can really get some incredible woods (I did Cuban Mahogany for most of my panels). I then lined the interior of my humidor with 1/4" Spanish Cedar that I resawed from thicker boards. That's probably overkill, but I liked how it came out and love the cedar smell in a humidor. 

[PrairieSmoke]

13 hours ago, CigarAsh said:

Having built my own and having talked to Bob a little about it (bought humidification system from him) - he uses mostly plywoods with nice veneers on them for the large panel pieces in his humidors. Too much movement in solid wood, especially across large pieces and even more particularly when you're talking about actively humidifying the interior of the cabinet. 

I basically did solid wood frames with veneered plywood panels for my humidor. With veneers you can really get some incredible woods (I did Cuban Mahogany for most of my panels). I then lined the interior of my humidor with 1/4" Spanish Cedar that I resawed from thicker boards. That's probably overkill, but I liked how it came out and love the cedar smell in a humidor. 

Great info! No issues in movement from using solid Spanish cedar though I take it?

[CigarAsh]

 

1 hour ago, PrairieSmoke said:

Great info! No issues in movement from using solid Spanish cedar though I take it?

I cut my cedar to approx 5 - 6" widths and then cut about a 3/8" half lap on each side (except front most piece). Then I just set them in loosely in the cabinet. They're held by cleats with a rabbet on inside edge at top & bottom so the cedar "panels" are  basically in there loose with no hard fastener trying to hold them in place. You can kind of see this in the picture by looking at top and bottom of the doors.   Done this on two cabinets with no issues. Basically once the cedar seasons and gets used to your humidity setting, and it remains constant, you won't get any movement out of them anyway. I think the cedar gives a little bit of humidity buffer plus that wonderful cedar smell when you open the doors. 

[PrairieSmoke]

Thank you! That picture is very helpful.