Wine cooler build

[USHOG]

I found a large wine cooler that I am going to convert to a humidor. I do not know exactly what I am going to do with it yet but I figured I could share the build as I go. The box is foamed insulated and almost ready to be stained and trimmed out on the outside. Here a few pick if anyone could help with ideas it would be great.

 

[Joeytivo]

Damn! What are the dimensions on that? Looks awesome!


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[USHOG]

It is 42 inches deep 4 foot wide and around 7 foot tall. It is a little overwhelming. I have so many ideas that I do not know where to start.

 

[mdwest]

#1 priority.. make sure it seals really well.. from the pictures it doesnt look like it has any sort of material on the doors/frame that would help keep RH in/out.. you want a sealed/constant RH environment for cigars..

#2.. careful about using that cooling unit.. you DO NOT want to be running a compressor based cooling unit.. you want thermoelectric.. Im guessing that unit is a compressor..

All that said.. this looks like a seriously fun project..

you can probably seal that thing up tight as a drum for less than $20.. weather strip around the frame where the doors touch should do the trick.. then use an odorless caulk/sealant on all the seams internally.. and you should be squared away..

Get lots of spanish cedar in there... Start out with empty cigar boxes or whatever you can get for free/cheap from your local B&M and HERF buddies.. but you dont want a whole lot of open air/space inside.. unless youve got a couple of thousand sticks on hand already.. with something that massive youre probably going to have some open space for a while.. consider ordering some custom trays/drawers from Forest...

In TX youre probably going to want a cooling unit of some sort.. unless you have a place in the house that stays between 65-70 all the time that you plan on putting the cabinet in?

youre going to want to think about RH media as well.. some people swear by beads.. others by KL.. others by active humidification.. etc.. its really a matter of preference... My cabinet is about 1/2 the size of your project.. I use a combination of active (Oasis XL), KL, and a handful of bovedas.. its not the most conventional approach.. but it works well for me.. and is extremely low maintenance..

Youre probably going to want a couple of fans in there as well.. thats a lot of space to keep your RH balanced in.. if you go with active humidification like the Oasis XL.. it has a fan built into it.. If you can find them, a lot of guys like the old Oust Fans (battery operated).. some people go with computer fans.. again.. much of this is preference.. but Im guessing you are going to see a significant difference in RH at the top of that box and what you get at the bottom (my cabinet is about 6' tall.. before I put a fan in mine there could be as much as a 5% variation between the bottom (where the Oasis is) and the top (KL and a couple of bovedas)... Now that Ive got an additional fan in there.. top to bottom deviation is never more than 1% (usually its spot on)..

Good luck with your project..

I had a lot of fun building mine out earlier this year.. Im betting youll have a lot of fun with yours as well..

 

[USHOG]

My son and I are going to have a lot of fun building this project. I am planning on removing the chiller unit. It works great but it sucks all the humidity out of the box and it takes up way to much space. It is sealed very well with rubber seals all the way around both doors. I am going to use Heartfield beads as I have in all of my humidors. I am in no hurry to be finished with this humidor. I figured a few months or so to complete. I am going to line the inside walls in either Spanish cedar or copper and redesign the whole interior. As far as shelves I am no where that part of the build. I have built many cabinets and drawers for my house so I will attempt these when I can get the Spanish cedar.
I guess my next question is where to buy the Spanish cedar at?

 

[mdwest]

shoot Rev.B a PM about spanish cedar.. he is in the middle of a walk in project and bought quite a bit of it by the board foot recently I believe..

Now lets talk about that sig line of yours! Ive been looking for a new place to do some hog hunting!

 

[irie]

wow I cannot wait to see how this turns out, keep us updated!

 

[rev.b]

Now lets talk about that sig line of yours! Ive been looking for a new place to do some hog hunting!

+1 I'm so wanting to go myself!!!

 

[USHOG]

Right now the hogs are everywhere. Let me know when you are ready and we will go catch some boars.

As far as the humidor goes I am taking out the cooling unit and trying to come up with a plan for the inside design.

This is what I am looking to make the outside look like, but I want a deeper mahogany stain than the picture

 

[nystogiesmoker22]

Right now the hogs are everywhere. Let me know when you are ready and we will go catch some boars.

As far as the humidor goes I am taking out the cooling unit and trying to come up with a plan for the inside design.

This is what I am looking to make the outside look like, but I want a deeper mahogany stain than the picture

View attachment 36591

Dang, that's purtty right der! Does the cooling unit work? If so it might not be a bad idea to have just incase. (Unless it's compressor cooled) either way that's badass! Can't wait to see the build!


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[USHOG]

I am taking the cooling unit out to clean it. It blows colder than ambient but not to much flow so I looked in the side and it is solid with dirt. A little cleaning and we will see how well it works.

 

[Big Lou]

Now lets talk about that sig line of yours! Ive been looking for a new place to do some hog hunting!

+1 I'm so wanting to go myself!!!

+2 Was just talking about hog hunting this afternoon

 

[Omega Man]

You may want to consider splitting the unit up into thirds. Build a solid shelf above and below the center third. Use the center third for your cigar storage and make sure it is sealed well above and below and where the doors close on it. The upper and lower thirds would be used for non humidified storage. As your needs expand, remove the upper and or lower solid shelves and finish off the area accordingly. If you try to use the entire cabinet, boy that is a lot of area to maintain consistent humidification if you do not have product to help maintain control. Spanish cedar is a must to help with RH and to keep from getting off odors from the current wood. I see water stains along the bottom and that will give a off odor even if the woods has dried.

This should be a fun project. Don't forget some lights inside. Keep the pictures coming. Good luck!

 

[USHOG]

I thought about separating it into 2 sides and a top compartment, But I am not looking to make a storage humidor I already have a storage humidor. I think that this one will be a show piece to show off some cigars that I have collected. I am really overwhelmed at the moment with ideas. One good thing I found out the inside wood is Spanish cedar and the outside wood is oak. The shelves are also oak. This is perfect for what I want. I am sanding the inside and outside today to clean it up a little. I am going to paint the underneath with a sealer after it is finished sanded to clean up the water stains. Planning on staining the cabinet with a dark stain this next weekend. (only the outside). Then start finding or making the trim for the outside. My buddy Kelly is going to help me with the door redesign.
I would love to hear ideas that you might do if this was yours. My first idea was to build a barrel kind of like the whisky barrels in size and looks, but with glass panels in the sides to revile the shelves that will display the cigars. Of course it will rotate and have plenty of lighting. I would still have plenty of room for drawers and of course hidden compartments.

 

[USHOG]

Well my son and I spent 6 hours sanding and staining the box. We have much more sanding inside but we are close. Heres a few pics

Before we sanded


After we sanded it was only surface staining. Thankfully



My son is looking at the damage from the chiller



Needs a little work



Before staining



After all shelves and hardware are removed



After staining We will be adding pannels and trim this next week. Just waiting on my router.

 

[USHOG]

I now have designed what I am building. I will take pictures of my drawings later and post them. This is going to be neat. I have yet to find anything out there that will be this crazy. Since the cabnet is so deep I am putting an 8 inch deep set of drawers on the back wall from the top to the bottom. These will only be seen when the front end of the cabinet is opened. I figured I would make many 6" drawers that are kind of like an old library card drawers plus many hidden compartments. The front will have 2 pull out sections that will be hinged. Both sections will slide out motorized of course since these will be huge drawers that fold into 2 sections each.

I need some help with finding Spanish cedar. Where is a reliable source of Spanish Cedar that I can have delivered?

 

[partriar]

Sounds awesome mate! Looking forward to see the progress.

 

[Bill6211789]

This will be very nice when done. Great project

 

[cgraunke]

Excited to see this come together!

 

[Jfire]

Curious what u need the Spanish cedar for? If its lined already I go with that. Save your money for outside trim work! Use a mohagany inside if more wood is needed.good luck can't wait to see it finished. Btw us that a vinotemp unit? Looks like one of their big wine chillers.