I just told someone that “Absolutely, I can build you a humidor.” Only one small detail – I have no idea what makes a good humidor.
Does anyone have any plans or description of interior arrangements? This will be a large display humidor for a business roughly 6′ tall and 2′ – 3′ wide. The case is no problem – it is just a basic cabinet w/tempered glass door. I am guessing that there are some tricks to making a proper humidor that I would not see from photos. For example: in two photos I recently looked at there was an approx. 8″ dia hole in the subtop, purpose unknown.
Anyway, I am basically looking for functional descriptions as to what sets a good humidor apart from a basic glass-front display cabinet, not design ideas.
Before I give him a quote it would be nice to know what will be involved.
Any ideas or suggestions would be most appreciated!
Bob
Replies
I found a couple things I thought might help a little. Faced the same dilemma a little while back. Good luck and be sure to post some pictures!
http://www.whitemountdesign.com/WoodworkingArticles.htm 3 part tutorial.
http://www.cigargroup.com/gallery/homemade.htm A few home made humidors.
-Ryan C.
Very interesting! Thanks Ryan!
Bob
HI, I built a humidor similar in size to the one you are talking about last year. Basically the interior temperature and humidity need to be maintained at 75 degrees 75% humidity. I built the casework into a wall using basic maple plywood. I lined the interior with spanish cedar that I machined into t&g strips. The shelves were all constructed of spanish cedar with 1" wide long openings cut into the bottoms every few inches to allow the air to circulate. Some of the shelves were just flat shelves for boxes, the others I built as divided trays and installed them on a 30 degree angle to display loose cigars. The door was glass and cherry to match the other woodwork of the room. The door needs to be well sealed with foam weatherstripping. The heat is maintained with a heating rod and the humidity with a high-tech humidifiers (regular drugstore variety humidifiers will only get up to 50-60% humidity). They are both hooked to a control unit to keep the atmosphere perfect. Because this was for some higher end customers the idea of refilling the water every day or two didn't go over well so I plumbed in a 1/4" waterline with a float valve to keep the unit filled. The only maintenance is the occasional filter change. Good luck.
Wow! Sounds Great! I don't think this guy could be classified as high end so the water line is probably out but thanks a bunch for all the info. I hadn't thought about temp.
I feel I can now hand in an accurate quote after I get an idea how much a piece of bevel edged, tempered glass that size will run. Have to wait for the store to open for that.
Thanks all!
Bob
Are you referring to the temp and humidity needing a different range other than 75% and 75 degrees. I've always heard 70% humidity and above 70 degree temp. Most small desk tops don't control temp and just use a simple humidifier (wet sponge) for humidity. The only active humidifier I know of is the Cigar Oasis which can be set to maintain a constant humidity. I do believe that the humidity level is somewhat subjective and dependent on the aficionado's personal preference anywhere from 68% to 75%. I keep mine around 70%. I've only built a desk top humidor.
Aaron
http://expensivecigarscom.stores.yahoo.net/micper.html
Check out the Millenium. You can refer your client to this competetion when you give him your price. I bet you could do this for half of the retail price - right. Well maybe not with the subscription for monitoring, but hey he is saving 100K right.
Aaron
Holy Cr#*p! I think I may have underbid! I was trying to bring the guy in for under a grand and all the time I should have been going for 6 figures?!
Thanks Aaron, I think
Bob
Well I guess I'm just stupid. But given that I don't smoke these foul things I was relying on the advice of the engineer who designed the control system and the purveyor of the local cigar store - both said 75% humidity at 75 degrees temperature - something about these conditions being optimal for extending the life of the cigars. I just went with what they said and left it at that. The control system has a digital readout that can be adjusted from 0-100 in both the humidity and temperature settings so I guess the customer can reset the humidor accordingly.
As far as the stupid comment - somehow I don't think you would have called me stupid if we were standing in a room face to face talking about this subject - its fun hiding behind your computer screen though I guess.
Concerning the customer's stupidity - maybe he is "cigar stupid" but otherwise, a medical degree from Columbia and a successful 20 year surgery practice might lead others to different conclusion.
In the future I'll defer to those with cigar PhDs, like yourself, and refrain from commenting on humidor design and or construction. GFY
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