sam Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 I thought some of you might be interested in my experience building a roughly 25 cubic foot cabinet humidor. Photos are attached. My three cedar-lined coolerdors were pretty much filled and I was tired of the effort needed to maintain a somewhat constant humidity, especially at the large spring-summer and fall-winter humidity transitions we get here in the upper Midwest. I searched the Internet for a humidor that would hold 30+ boxes of cigars and didn’t cost a small fortune. I didn’t need a fancy piece of furniture since it was going in my basement furnace room, which stays at a constant 70 degrees year round. Finding nothing that met my criteria, I decided to build one. I have a limited woodworking tool set, so the unit was made mostly with hand tools and an electric drill. The size was largely dictated by the 24” deep, 40” wide and 6 ft high space I wanted to place the unit. The outer dimensions are 24” deep, 40” wide and 46” high. The shell (4 sides and back) is made from 1x12 poplar boards. I selected poplar because the boards were the least expensive yet relatively wide (at 12”) and flat ones I could find that didn’t have any perceptible aroma. Gluing two boards together side-by-side gave me the 24” width I needed for the four sides. I screwed the four sides together, then screwed the remaining boards to the back to form the shell. The shell rests on three 2x2s as shown in one of the photos. It is not permanently mounted to the surrounding structure. The front is a single piece of plywood with hardwood outer layers. I selected this piece of wood because it had an attractive surface and no perceptible odor. It is mounted to the front edge of the shell by screws. The door was difficult. I was unable to find a prefabricated door that had what I thought was a sufficiently air-tight seal. What you see is a stray cabinet door that I got for next to nothing at Home Depot. I lined the edges with some basic plastic weather strip and mounted it to the front of the cabinet with a couple of cabinet hinges. The latches are mounted to the door and cabinet front with enough precision that when latched, the door seals tightly to the cabinet front. If and when I come up with a better door solution, I can easily remove the front of the cabinet and replace it and/or the door. In the meantime it’s working fine. The inside of the cabinet is lined with ¼” spanish cedar I purchased from some Internet lumber company. It was relatively inexpensive and came in odd lengths and didn’t have very straight edges, so some effort was needed to get them to fit together. The cedar boards are screwed to the boards of the shell. I trimmed the edges with 3/4” pine strip. The shelves are standard household units from Home Depot. I mounted them at the sides instead of using the standard mounts since two of them are 16” deep and the middle one is 22” deep. The location for the humidor conveniently had an electrical outlet, so I extended it into the humidor. It provides power for the Cigar Oasis II XL humidifier that seems to be working well. Overall the humidor appears to be very functional. Please contact me if you would like further information on this project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taino Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Looks great! One comment: i would replace the screws you used in the cedar for solid bronce screws, cedar + high Rh is a very good combination for oxidation... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stargazer14 Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Looks great!One comment: i would replace the screws you used in the cedar for solid bronce screws, cedar + high Rh is a very good combination for oxidation... you local marina or West Marine will have silicon bronze screws or order them from here: http://www.jamestowndistributors.com dont ask how i know this.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thechenman Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Nice work. Very innovative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 Looks great!One comment: i would replace the screws you used in the cedar for solid bronce screws, cedar + high Rh is a very good combination for oxidation... Do you think the oxidation from the screws is likely to be enough to be detrimental? I thought about it and assumed not, but after all this work I don't want to cheap out at the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesuscookies Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Very nice work! Is this built into a wall, or is it a stand alone unit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samb Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Nice setup you got there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowKey Posted March 3, 2010 Share Posted March 3, 2010 Wow you have a really good foundation for a great humidor! Some suggestions -As mentioned, change up the screws as soon as possible. -Use an internal marine cabinet lock for the latching mechanism (it would make for a secure clean appearance) Must do: -VARY IMPORTANT!!!! Switch the outlet to an internal gfi (so important when dealing with high humidity and water). Keeping your electrical up to code is imperative. A small price to pay for the peace of mind (and insurance coverage). Be sure to takes pics for us when she's full of habanos :-) Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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