What's new

Help building a large cabinet humidor

ciggy

"TommyBoy"
Rating - 100%
326   0   0
Joined
Sep 30, 2009
Messages
9,703
Location
Southwest Michigan
Seeing how Spanish Kiln dried Ceder cost so much, what would you recommend for the interior that would provide the next best storage quality at a more affordable price. I want to build a cabinet about 6'x4'x14". Any help would be appreciated! :help: Thanks!!
 

RonC

www.igloodor.com
Rating - 100%
106   0   0
Joined
Dec 13, 2004
Messages
4,331
Location
Tampa, FL
use mahogony plywood to build the cabinet. dont worry about a spanish cedar. your cigar boxes will provide plenty of smell.
 

e-man67

Benny Hill's Understudy
Rating - 100%
48   0   0
Joined
Mar 11, 2009
Messages
1,510
Location
Nasti Nati
I am kinda wondering the same thing....the house we bought has a cedar closet that I would like to turn into a walk-in...I just wonder if that cedar can be used...it is not spanish but rather a particle type.
 
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
Oct 29, 2009
Messages
86
Location
Godley, IL
Does oak work well as an interior wood? Or do I need a harder, less aromatic wood to work with (sorry for thread jacking, but I'm planning a cabinet in the *hopefully* near future as well)?
 

Volusianator

BoM Nov '07 & Jan '09
Rating - 93.8%
86   4   1
Joined
Apr 9, 2007
Messages
7,032
Location
Green Bay, WI
Does oak work well as an interior wood? Or do I need a harder, less aromatic wood to work with (sorry for thread jacking, but I'm planning a cabinet in the *hopefully* near future as well)?
Oak is one of the more less stable woods, meaning it will expand and contract more than say Mahogany due to fluctuations on moisture.
 

ciggy

"TommyBoy"
Rating - 100%
326   0   0
Joined
Sep 30, 2009
Messages
9,703
Location
Southwest Michigan
You can always build the cabinet and line it with a cigar box cedar veneer.
I would need a crap load of it and that would be messy and too costly. Exactly what I was hoping to avoid...Believe me I thought of the same thing. Thanks for the help though...there just has to be an easier way:scratchhe I will have to check into that mahogony plywood...That would cut and look nice!
 

Mitch

BOM 2/09-Keeper BOTtLe
Rating - 100%
133   0   0
Joined
May 8, 2008
Messages
2,500
Location
Ft. Lauderdale Florida
Perhaps build it out of playwood, put in a moisture barrier and use cedar veneer or this cut to line it. The cedar in a unit of that size is more for astetics than humidity control with a unit that size, if you ask me.
 

funkejj

BoM December 09
Rating - 100%
255   0   0
Joined
Oct 7, 2009
Messages
2,626
Location
Camdenton, Mo
Ok when I built my walk in I used 3/4 inch thick spanish cedar. I bought it for $5.75 per sq foot which I thought was a steal at the time. They also sold sheets of veneer but my motto is go big or go home so I used big wood rather than sheets of veneer.
 

RonC

www.igloodor.com
Rating - 100%
106   0   0
Joined
Dec 13, 2004
Messages
4,331
Location
Tampa, FL
when building large cabinets, you are relying on a robust electronic humidity system to control your humidity. As Mitch said, the cedar in a large cabinet is really not doing much for performance of the cabinet.
 
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
May 6, 2008
Messages
196
Location
San Marcos, TX
Some good info concerning wood. Although I disagree with the paragraph about American Red Cedar being more intense. As with most woods (pine is a good example) the age of the milled wood, kiln dried or not, and the particular species will affect how intense the aromas are. I have some Red Cedar in my humi that has lost most of it's scents; however, it is still a hygroscopic media that helps keep the RH in balance.

http://www.humidor-guide.com/humidor-spanish-cedar-1-1.php3
 
Last edited:

funkejj

BoM December 09
Rating - 100%
255   0   0
Joined
Oct 7, 2009
Messages
2,626
Location
Camdenton, Mo
As I understand the above posts we used spanish cedar for several reasons one being when you open the door and grab something or do some organizing of sticks it fills the house with a great smell. Plus it was hard to have a humidor that was not made from spanish cedar.
 

Moro

BoM Decembre '08
Rating - 100%
29   0   0
Joined
Aug 12, 2008
Messages
10,387
Location
Mexico City
As I understand the above posts we used spanish cedar for several reasons one being when you open the door and grab something or do some organizing of sticks it fills the house with a great smell. Plus it was hard to have a humidor that was not made from spanish cedar.
And the scent deterred beetles. One of the most important, along with it holding RH so it wouldn't dry out because ye opened the humidor.
 

ciggy

"TommyBoy"
Rating - 100%
326   0   0
Joined
Sep 30, 2009
Messages
9,703
Location
Southwest Michigan
Ok when I built my walk in I used 3/4 inch thick spanish cedar. I bought it for $5.75 per sq foot which I thought was a steal at the time. They also sold sheets of veneer but my motto is go big or go home so I used big wood rather than sheets of veneer.
Saw your pics...Love it!! Do you remember where you got your wood (Lowe's?). You did a great job on it and that would really be something I believe I could manage. Anyways it looks fantastic. Great job!!:cbig:
 

funkejj

BoM December 09
Rating - 100%
255   0   0
Joined
Oct 7, 2009
Messages
2,626
Location
Camdenton, Mo
I bought my wood from a wood working supply company about a hour from here. Lowes nor any of my local lumber yards even knew what spanish cedar was. One that we do a lot of business at called and said they could get it in if I bought a unit of it which was way more than I would ever need. But I did a lot of google searches and such to find it semi close to me.
 
Rating - 100%
17   0   0
Joined
Oct 5, 2009
Messages
783
Location
Blighty
I've bought a used 80 box cupboard humi from fleabay. i'm going to veneer rhe back to hide water marks. the sides i'm going to line with 3mm cedar board. im putting in new shelves made from 13mm cedar and a dozen drawers all made from cedar. also its planned to have a couple of pounds of beads and 2 fans controlled by a timer.
 

ciggy

"TommyBoy"
Rating - 100%
326   0   0
Joined
Sep 30, 2009
Messages
9,703
Location
Southwest Michigan
Ok Ron...I just found out I can order a 1/4 inch 4' x 8' vineer sheet of Spanish ceder for $90. So another question to ponder is....If I were to buy a cabnet pre-built could I line the inside of it with this vaneer and get the same results no matter what the cabnet itself is made of?:scratchhe
 

RonC

www.igloodor.com
Rating - 100%
106   0   0
Joined
Dec 13, 2004
Messages
4,331
Location
Tampa, FL
all the veneer is doing is adding a little bit of smell. if the cabinet is built bad, it can still leak or warp.
 

Volusianator

BoM Nov '07 & Jan '09
Rating - 93.8%
86   4   1
Joined
Apr 9, 2007
Messages
7,032
Location
Green Bay, WI
I agree with Ron, a bad cabinet is just that, a bad cabinet.

What we need to realize here folks is that in a way, we're talking out of both sides of our mouths, meaning:

A) we're wanting cabinets to hold their shape, form and joints while using the same cabinet to hold moisture. In most cases, wood in general is not made to do this or do this well.

B) we're talking about 70-65% humidity, which for a lot of us, is LOWER than what we have in humidity levels outside our homes for much or all of the year.

C) The amount of humidity we're talking about is not excessive. In most situations, for those of us that keep our humidors at or near 65%, you could leave your damn cigars sit in a end table drawer...if you lived in FL or the likes, hell, even WI in the summer.

That being said, does your other furniture in your home get all warped and bent out of shape during the changing of the seasons? If so, look at that furniture, in most cases the stuff that does get all bent is most likely not the greatest furniture to begin with and has moderate at best joinery. A well made cabinet will hold it's shape well over the decades if it has great joinery. If you get/have/acquire a poorly made cabinet, really the only thing you could do is install a moisture barrier between the inside of the cabinet and whatever you line it with to hold moisture away from the cabinet.

Otherwise like Ron said above, "if the cabinet is built bad, it can still leak or warp."
 
Top