DIY Custom Cedar Cigar Boxes

[AllorNothing]

I feel like I start every post like, “As you know in Canada we have green paper boxes.” 

My uncle is a monster when it comes to wood making. He made me a sample box and it’s absolutely wonderful. It’s made out of 100% Spanish cedar and we did the dimensions 4” W x 4” H and 6” L which fits most cigar sizes. Just a snug tight where the slide lid top is, so we’re increasing by 0.25” for comfort

I purchased glassine paper from Amazon (the only work I did on this project).

I put some of my RASS in there for showcase purpose but I plan on using these for my long term storage purchases. 

Would love to hear your thoughts! 

Edit: It smells f*kn amazing!

[Russell]

This is killer!

[Chibearsv]

Love it!

[Li Bai]

Really nice work ! I assume spanish cedar wood is easier to get in North America (it is expensive and rare here in Europe), now you know what to do.

Did your uncle use glue ?

[AllorNothing]

6 hours ago, Li Bai said:

Really nice work ! I assume spanish cedar wood is easier to get in North America (it is expensive and rare here in Europe), now you know what to do.

Did your uncle use glue ?

Very easy to find here at a store called Langevin Forest, they’re a wood speciality store: https://www.langevinforest.com/fr/planchette-cedre-espagnol

Each plank was used to make approx one box so we’re looking at $6 in raw materials. 

My uncle used just a bit of carpenter glue (see attached). Originally he wanted to do a finger joint like the cab slides are done in Cuba but these planks we purchased are slightly too thin and will break.

[Li Bai]

17 hours ago, AllorNothing said:

Each plank was used to make approx one box so we’re looking at $6 in raw materials. 

My uncle used just a bit of carpenter glue (see attached). Originally he wanted to do a finger joint like the cab slides are done in Cuba but these planks we purchased are slightly too thin and will break.

Wow, I could only dream of prices like that when I made my cabinet. Everything's not so bad in Canada! 😉

I don't know that glue, just be sure it doesn't leave a bit of a smell. I used Titebond 3 myself and the results were perfect. 👍

[Booyaa]

Last time I looked for Spanish Cedar in the UK $6 would have bought me one shaving of it. 

[Li Bai]

11 hours ago, Booyaa said:

Last time I looked for Spanish Cedar in the UK $6 would have bought me one shaving of it. 

In France I paid nearly 300 euros for 20 sq m3 if I remember correctly 🤔

It was from Maréchaux sas, one of the rare retailers in France (this is where Pinel et Pinel get their Spanish cedar as well)...It's easy to find veneer but hardwood is another story.

[AllorNothing]

I’m now reading that there is something called aromatic cedar and that it’s not good for long term storage? How do I know if my cedar is aromatic cedar or not? I purchased Spanish cedar as the store labeled it and it obviously smells like cedar. 
 

Can anyone chime in? 

[PigFish]

Aromatic cedar is not cedar at all but a juniper. It is considered mildly toxic and does not belong with cigars.

Mahogany is a great wood for cigar storage as well if you are into wood and cigar storage…I would prefer to work with mahogany than Spanish cedar myself but I don’t do much woodworking anymore. Controlled humidors work better with non-hygroscopic materials unless yo need the hygroscopicity to support your humidity control.

[ATGroom]

Cuban cigar boxes and most limited humidors out of Cuba these days are made of Okoume (as marine ply, in the case of the boxes).

It has many of the same hygroscopic properties of Spanish Cedar with no odour to speak of.

Not particularly common or cheap as far as woods go, but in Australia at least it is findable and not prohibitively expensive which is more than can be said for Spanish cedar.

[Li Bai]

1 hour ago, PigFish said:

Mahogany is a great wood for cigar storage as well if you are into wood and cigar storage… I would prefer to work with mahogany than Spanish cedar myself but I don’t do much woodworking anymore. Controlled humidors work better with non-hygroscopic materials unless yo need the hygroscopicity to support your humidity control.

This is the first time I have read this. I mean, I understand why you'd rather work with mahogany for the structure but Spanish cedar has a smell that suits cigar storage perfectly and a beetle repellent function too 🤔

I'm not a big fan of airtight and temperature controlled cabinets (just like many of my compadres aficionados).

 

15 minutes ago, ATGroom said:

Cuban cigar boxes and most limited humidors out of Cuba these days are made of Okoume (as marine ply, in the case of the boxes).

In the French cigar community many of us who custom made their cabinets used okoumé for the inside but still used Spanish cedar veneer over it (okoumé is really cheaper than cedar here), I didn't know Cubans used this wood for their boxes.