par said:I'm considering building my own humi. Sounds like a fun wood working project. What type of hinges do you use (i like the concealed kind of hinges) and where do you get them from?
Par, PM me. Need info on you
par said:I'm considering building my own humi. Sounds like a fun wood working project. What type of hinges do you use (i like the concealed kind of hinges) and where do you get them from?
I am building a replica 3 door icebox out of solid quartersawn white oak. I plan on making it a humidor. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. Thinking I will line it with 1/2 inch spanish cedar an make slide out cedar slat trays. Perhaps box storage in the larger of the three doors. Should I glue the cedar to the oak, or will they expand and contract at different rates. Also thought about no glue tongue and groove or board and battan for the cedar lining. Do you think I can make the door seals adequate? Any humidifying suggestions. I already have the case and doors cut but not assembled.AAlmeter said:No...keep asking. The more you ask the more I learn....and, hopefully, everyone else learns as well.
par said:I'm considering building my own humi. Sounds like a fun wood working project. What type of hinges do you use (i like the concealed kind of hinges) and where do you get them from?
SvilleKid said:AAl meter;
A couple of questions for you, if I might?
How close is what I call Red Cedar (prevelant in the south) to spanish cedar? Or is ti the same thing? I know Red Cedar is very good at rot resistence, and has good aroma properties. But is it too aromatic?
If red cedar is not the same as spanish, do you know enough about red cedar to make any judgement as to it's suitability for the liner?
I have several red cedar log sections stored in my barn for future projects, and this sounds like one.
Exterior: Any danger of exterior odors affecting interior storage? I also have black walnut trunks stored for future projects. Would make a beautiful exterior, but not at the expense of cigars, and black walnut can have an odor.
I also have a very nice piece of Red Oak plank (1" x 12" x 10') put back that will do nicely if Walnut is questionable. This plank is well cured, and begging for a good use, so walnut is not a major issue.
Thanks for posts, a copy will be in my workshop tomorrow, waiting for me to make time to butcher some wood. :r
opusxox said:I am building a replica 3 door icebox out of solid quartersawn white oak. I plan on making it a humidor. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. Thinking I will line it with 1/2 inch spanish cedar an make slide out cedar slat trays. Perhaps box storage in the larger of the three doors. Should I glue the cedar to the oak, or will they expand and contract at different rates. Also thought about no glue tongue and groove or board and battan for the cedar lining. Do you think I can make the door seals adequate? Any humidifying suggestions. I already have the case and doors cut but not assembled.
Again, any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.![]()
Yeah, it is from Rockler icebox plans with a few variations. I am cocerned about sealing and the active humidifier does sound appropriate. I will look for the threads Thanks for your adviceAAlmeter said:Well, I need to ask you a few questions. By icebox...you mean 'icebox' right? Like old fridge size? Take extra care with your angles. Any error will be very noticable. You are almost framing a room at that size, but Im assuming you still want to keep a woodworkers tolerence. You will need an active humidification system. There are plenty of threads on here from people who know more that I do about that. 1/2" is appropriate and easy to work with for that size humidor.
I am worried about wood movement, but need a fairly good seal too. The panel sides and front concern me the most with uneven surfaces to cover with cedar. I wonder if i should build a free standing cedar box (not glued to exterior) built to inside dimensions of cabinet.This would allow plenty of movement. What do you think?mhotek said:Focus on the construction of the exterior. Make sure everything fits cleanly and accurately. I'd call 1/2" Spanish Cedar a bit much, you shouldn't have to go that thick. It's a liner, not the main building material. 1/4" at a minimum and 3/8" at most should get you exactly what you want.
Lining desktop humidors is easy, you cut it to fit snugly, and you do NOT glue it to the exterior wood. This allows it to basically float and shift as the cedar expands without placing stress on the exterior. If it were glued to the exterior, most desktops would eventually blow them selves apart due to the stress points. Don't underestimate just how much force is exerted by a board when it expands by 1/128".
Lining a cabinet is much different since you are dealing with larger areas and the fact that you have horizontal and vertical orientations. So, yes, there is some adhesion that you need to do. The top and bottom are something we usually glue to the exterior, but we use very thin sheets (~1/16") for that lining to reduce the amount of stress it can exert. For the walls, we go as sparingly with the glue as possible. You want the liner to stay in place and not display any gaps to the exterior wood, but you don't want it glued so completely that it doesn't move.
mhotek said:There are really two ways to seal a hunidor.
Basic mechanical: This is what you see in every desktop. It basically consists of a lip which seats into the lid when closed. Rarely it will be reversed where the lip is in the lid and fits down into the base. (This configuration is one that I hate since it has the potential to crush a cigar.) This type of seal relies on precision in the woodworking. It needs to be just loose enough to allow you to open the lid without requiring a crowbar, but just tight enough so that you don't produce a large gap. When you hit that, this type of seal works primarily due to the fact that in order for air to escape around the seal, it has to move in a way that is very unnatural and only possible if you forced it by blasting a fan directly at the seal.
Weatherstripping: This is the type of seal favored by several cabinet humidor manufacturers. This seal works by relying on the ability for the door to sit flush and have enough closing power on the magnets to draw the door into the weatherstripping to compress it and make the seal. Again, it works as long as you are very precise with your cuts and assembly. There is little room for error in this type of seal, just like in the one above, in order to make it work. If you are using this type of seal, you are going to require rare earth magnets on the closures. The reason is that they produce a very strong magnetic field while still being very small. You are going to need the power in order to draw the door to the carcass to deform the weather stripping enough to create the seal.
I prefer the mechanical seal, which is manifested in a cabinet by constructing the door in such as way that part of it seats inside the carcass of the cabinet. It is straight forward and relies very simply on your wood working skills. In the event that you weren't precise enough, it can always be supplemented with weather stripping + rare earth magnets.
If you go with the weather stripping approach, then you hav exactly one option - very precise wood working with very precise assembly there is no other option and not getting either one right means starting over.
In either case, you are going to want to seriously consider using European style hinges. The reason for this is that after the door is attached, this hinge allows you to adjust the fit up/down as well as in/out.
Old Sailor said:Is there anything used between the glass and the wood to make a good seal?