Zen,
Ive used empty cigar boxes in mine while I have waited on custom trays from forrest.. they have worked just fine.. they give me all the cedar I need, help keep the humidity balanced, etc..
that said.. if youre ordering trays.. I would recommend going the custom route on the front end.. not the back...
I got forrest to build my trays to the exact specs of my wineador... for just a couple of bucks more per tray than the generic ones you can find on fleabay, etc..
His "small" trays were too small.. but his medium trays were 1" too long to work for me... so I just ordered mediums, and asked him to make mine slightly shorter (wasnt a problem at all)...
the single biggest issue I have with cigar boxes is they are inefficient in terms of space.. I am loosing a lot of storage room because a "flat" type churchill box is too wide to fit 2 boxes side by side ... but a "cube" style box is too tall to fit two on top of each other between my shelves.. they also dont fit my wineador from the front to the back.. so I loose space that way as well...
again.. dont get me wrong.. cigar boxes have been a FREE way to use the wineador right from the get go.. I have really enjoyed it.. and Ive probably got 150-200 sticks in there right now..
my guess is when my trays show up from forrest that my storage capability will probably increase by 60-70% though (Im betting I can fit 300+ sticks in there easy).. I got mine built so that they are exactly 1" narrower and 1" less deep than my wineador.. and when stacked on my shelves I will loose 1/2" of space between the top of the tray and the next shelve up..
for just a couple of more bucks per tray than the generic ones..
I think the customs cost me a total of $18 more than the generics would have..
for less than a $20 bill.. I thought that was absolutely the right way to go... (not to mention, I dont have to buy trays twice now...)....