Epiphany

[charlie]

I was planning to build a coolidor today. I have my beads and hygrometer.

I was sitting in my office thinking about it instead of working and had an idea. When my late grandfather was in the army he built himself a pipe stand with a cabinet. It is about 3 1/2 feet tall by 2 wide and 2 deep. It is made out of wood and finished with lacquer. My mom currently has it, I would like to convince her to donate it to me to turn into a humidor cabinet.

I was wondering how to line it with spanish cedar...do I need any specific glue or should I use nails? I prefer glue as not to damage the existing cabinet by splitting the wood or anything. As far as sealing the door, I would imagine some weather stripping would work. Let me know what you guys think. If I can get the cabinet I will of course post some pics.

I guess instead of buying a $50 cooler, for now I will settle for some cheap tupperware.


-Charlie

 

[Tegu]

Wood glue works. I tried a conversion project long ago, it only worked for a few months before it gave me problems, so I will tell you what I wish someone told me.

from http://www.cigargroup.com/faq/

"I'm considering converting a china cabinet into a humidor - why won't this work?
Most of the $$$ of a good humidor is in its construction. Good quality hardwoods, special joinery, lining, etc. Keep this in mind when you consider a furniture conversion project. I've heard from many who've tried converting cabinets, chests, and armoires into humidors unsuccessfully. The problems they experience are warping, mold, inability to regulate humidity, and (in several cases) complete disintegration of the furniture after a few months.

Why? There are some tremendous stresses involved in keeping a large piece of furniture moist on the inside and dry on the outside. The larger the piece, the more stress is involved. Special techniques go into the design and construction of a humidor to compensate for these stresses - considerations which were never made in the construction of other furniture. Planked panels are prone to warping. The finishes used may be slightly toxic. The wood used (some plywoods, all particle board) may give off noxious gasses when you seal the box tightly. Particly board panels are quite common in inexpensive furniture. This can swell and crumple into dust when exposed to moisture for long periods of time.

The bottom line? Yes it can be done - but not to just any enclosed chest, cabinet, etc. Choose your furniture to convert wisely, and consider additional bracing, support, lining, etc. along with simply sealing the enclosed areas..."

 

[charlie]

Whoa...maybe i should scrap this project

 

[bballbaby]

Wow, i was considering doing the same thing to a piece of furniture which i am quite certain is made of particle board under the veneer. I will have to look much closer at it now. If' its made of solid oak, like it appears to be fro the outside, then i'l go ahead with it. if not, i'm buying a real cabinet made for cigars.

 

[Tegu]

Whoa...maybe i should scrap this project

Dont let it scare you off, just make sure it is a good peice of furniture before trying it.

 

[charlie]

It is definitely made of good wood. I just dont know if I would risk ruining the only piece of furniture that my grandfather made. Its a tough decision.

 

[acaffey]

I was thinking about converting a chest in a similar manner. After more research, I determined that I would have enjoyed building it, but the prospect of ruining a nice piece of furnitre (and lots of nice cigars) would have kept me awake at night. I decided that my options were either a tried and true DIY like a cooler, or have someone else build a cabinet that could become an heirloom. I ultimately chose the latter.

That having been said, if I had something meaningful like a pipe stand from my grandfather, I would probably be more inclined to turn it into a project like this. Maybe you can build a box that would fit into the cabinet part without actually gluing or nailing anything to the cabinet. That way you wouldn't have to worry about damaging the furniture as much (still the humidity issue, though) and you could de - convert it later if you wanted to. Just my $0.02.

 

[Tegu]

Use a nice thick lining of spanish cedar and I am sure you will be fine, I dont think I used thick enough Spanish cedar, plus it was venered and after a few months started warping a bit, and just did not work well, if you start with a good piece of solid wood furniture, and do it right I am sure you will end up fine.

 

[dpricenator]

I was going to say, leave the piece of furniture untouced and build a box to fit inside. Or even easier, buy a humidor to fit, and use you Granddad's piece to store your humidor. I was considering doing something like this, but the details overwhelmed me, and I bought a 26 bottle wine cooler on craigslist for $100 and ended my aspirations of carpentry right there.

 

[jwintosh]

great thread, as i was looking into this as well....

 

[charlie]

Im having thoughts of clearing the wine out of my wine cooler and using that...could make for a fun evening

 

[Jwrussell]

Im having thoughts of clearing the wine out of my wine cooler and using that...could make for a fun evening

Fairly standard concept around here Charlie. Which cooler do you have?

 

[charlie]

I believe it is a Magic Chef 6 bottle cooler. Small but would hold me for awhile as my collection is small

 

[charlie]

Whats the ideal temperature for the wine cooler to be kept at?

Is it still ok to keep a bottle or two in there? haha I feel like I already know the answer to that one, but figured I would ask.

Now all I need is a way to store the beads and I am good. I dont have stockings, for obvious reasons, but I was thinking of putting the beads in a small tupperware container with the top off. Good idea?

 

[dpricenator]

Whats the ideal temperature for the wine cooler to be kept at?

Is it still ok to keep a bottle or two in there? haha I feel like I already know the answer to that one, but figured I would ask.

Now all I need is a way to store the beads and I am good. I dont have stockings, for obvious reasons, but I was thinking of putting the beads in a small tupperware container with the top off. Good idea?

Yes for bead storage, but you will want more room than a six bottle....Generally. I put an external temp control on mine to keep the temp around 68 degrees. If your wine cooler is only 6 bottle, buy the igloo cooler, you'll have more room to expand.

 

[charlie]

Yes for bead storage, but you will want more room than a six bottle....Generally. I put an external temp control on mine to keep the temp around 68 degrees. If your wine cooler is only 6 bottle, buy the igloo cooler, you'll have more room to expand.

I figure I can use it temporarily until I run out of room. It will leave me 50 bucks extra to spend on cigars for now. I really only have 2 boxes of cigars at this point so I figure I dont need the 120qt cooler quite yet.

 

[daniyal]

From what I understand if the cabinet is made out of board wood or chipboard it is more likely to swell up due to the humid environment created. Secondly furniture made out of chipwood isn't the most sturdy in the world which would explain why it would break.

Since your cabinet is made using some good wood I recommend you use some silicone to seal off the edges let it dry, air it for a couple of days then start lining it with atleast 1/4" spanish cedar. As long as the cabinet you're using is sturdy you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[charlie]

By boardwood do you mean plywood?