making a humidor

[scoob]

Hello. My grampa has ben puffing since he was 17. In shop class he made a cigar box and I decided to finish it. I made it look fashionable, but how do I make it humid inside? What do I need?

[kevin7]

urine

[badwhale]

Hello. My grampa has ben puffing since he was 17. In shop class he made a cigar box and I decided to finish it. I made it look fashionable, but how do I make it humid inside? What do I need?

What could possibly be need finishing? If I had a humidor my grand father made when he was in shop class, I'd stop right there and display it.

[kingbeefy]

urine

This is the correct answer.

[scoob]

Ugh.. Nevermind. My grandfather gave it to me as an unfinished cigar box. He died. I wanted to remember him so I wanted to turn his old box into a humidor. Do I need something to place in the lid, like other ones? I want it to be practical. Any real help? Or all of you just insensitive pricks?

[badwhale]

Ugh.. Nevermind. My grandfather gave it to me as an unfinished cigar box. He died. I wanted to remember him so I wanted to turn his old box into a humidor. Do I need something to place in the lid, like other ones? I want it to be practical. Any real help? Or all of you just insensitive pricks?

Just keep it, as is. What's unpractical about that, dickhead?

[mrtr33]

Ugh.. Nevermind. My grandfather gave it to me as an unfinished cigar box. He died. I wanted to remember him so I wanted to turn his old box into a humidor. Do I need something to place in the lid, like other ones? I want it to be practical. Any real help? Or all of you just insensitive pricks?

Sure. Here's some real help.

You'll need to start off with somewhat of a lower-grade sandpaper. Not as low as 60, but not as high as 220, or you'll be sanding all weekend. Gradually, work your way up to #0000 steel wool. If you can't tell the difference between #00 and #0000, then don't bother. Wipe it down very well - you could even wipe it down with a slightly damp cloth of some kind, and dry it with either chamois or allow to dry in the sun. I'd get a high-caliber semi-gloss finish. I wouldn't think you'd want it to be any kind of stain, as I'd think that you'd want to preserve the color as best as possible, but it's not my project. It's quite possible that some of the nail holes are either too big to continue supporting the integrity of the box. If this is the case, use tacks with extraordinarily small heads. This will enable you to not display that you're piecing this thing back together. I wouldn't glue this thing together. If that's what you really want to do, use some wood glue and apply very thinly to just the edges. You'll want to wipe off any excess once you clamp it together. It's imperative that no glue leakage shows. Next, find a piece of of birch wood, and cut it about the same size as the top of the box. Get gold hinges (the silver-plated hinges will rust with the humidity of the cigars - you don't want rusty cigars, do you?) and affix them to one end of the lid. The lid doesn't have to be as well sanded as the rest of the box, simply because the cigars won't ever touch that part of your humidor. Next, once everything is assembled and is completely dry, I benefit from running all of my humidors through the dishwasher. I realize that sounds kind of odd, but you've applied a protective coat, so you should be okay, as long as you applied it correctly. The biggest problem I have whenever I put a wooden humidor in the dishwasher is the 'fresh' scent that's left over. You can try to leave it on the counter for a few days, but nothing beats an afternoon of good sunshine. Once it's dry, now you'll need to 'season' your humidor. You may have heard this term before. There are varying opinions, but I find that sparkling water, specifically the generic brand that Whole Foods sells, is best. They have some flavored ones, like lime and lemon - avoid those. Wipe the entire inside of your humidor out with the sparkling water. Maybe even leave a shot glass full of it in there, with the lid closed tight, for a week or so. You want a humid environment. You may have to change out the water once or twice - it will seem ridiculous, but trust me, no one wants flat-tasting cigars. Finally, we're at the point of filling your humidor. I, personally, take the cello off of all my cigars - all true aficionados do. And don't believe any of the myths about mixing your Grape Owls with your Padron 26's - the tastes won't 'fuse' together, whatever the fuck that means. Hell, not only do I put flavored and natural tobaccos together, I also put lots of other things in my humidor - pipe tobacco, clove cigarettes, shisha, chewing tobacco, cutters, lighters, etc. Everything mixed in there together just adds to the 'tobacco experience'. You're one of the good ones - I can tell. Stick around - we could all benefit from having you here.

[Cody44]

Excellent post Mrtr33. Welcome to the board Scoob, I would suggest investing in some humidity beads at your local cigar or smokeshop. These beads will maintain a constant rH and will keep it from fluctuating. Oh, and a hygrometer to measure rH is also suggested, but the beads will help maintain a constant humidity. You want the inside to rest around 65-70% humidity.

Might I also suggest you search on the upper right for humidor set up, you might find some older posts that could help you out too.

[kevin7]

never mind

[buzz]

Hello. My grampa has ben puffing since he was 17. In shop class he made a cigar box and I decided to finish it. I made it look fashionable, but how do I make it humid inside? What do I need?

You need to raise the vapor partial pressure of the air in relation to the saturation vapor partial pressure at the dry bulb temperature. Below is a chart that should help.

[heftysmokes]

Thanks, Buzz! I've been looking for that particular chart forever! Now I can finally get my Longaberger baskets properly organized.

[prophetic_joe]

Hello. My grampa has ben puffing since he was 17. In shop class he made a cigar box and I decided to finish it. I made it look fashionable, but how do I make it humid inside? What do I need?

See the problem is nobody knows exactly what you did to the box. The first thing is that we need to know the box has a good quality seal. Should sort of make a suction kind of noise when opening a bit, also the inside lining should be spanish cedar or some other non aromatic wood. It needs to close true and have the ability first and foremost to hold the humidity inside. Until you can be sure that it has that ability it is no good as a humidor. The nest thing you need to do is get some type of hygrometer, internet search to find one, if you happen to buy some heartfelt beads, again google search for them, you will really only need a cheap hygrometer, non digital analog version. Post pics of the box and we could maybe be more help.

[scoob]

As you can see, its pretty ancient. It was made over 65 years ago. I wouldn't mind finishing as he would have liked that. Its not large, but it would be nice to keep my warlocks and zinos in something other than tupperware. So thanks men. I would appreciate any more tips. Also, I took the old stain off. Anything I did wrong and things to do right?

[badwhale]

That's not going to work without extensive modification.

Keep it as a memento, and get a different humidor.

[TheGreekTitan]

That's not going to work without extensive modification.

Keep it as a memento, and get a different humidor.

+1 Put a nice finish on it and keep your accessories and / or bands in it.

On another note, that could be some of the earliest plywood in existence. Hard to tell from the pics but parts of it look like plywood, which was invented during the 2nd World War if I'm not mistaken. That would be pretty cool to me in and of itself.

[prophetic_joe]

As you can see, its pretty ancient. It was made over 65 years ago. I wouldn't mind finishing as he would have liked that. Its not large, but it would be nice to keep my warlocks and zinos in something other than tupperware. So thanks men. I would appreciate any more tips. Also, I took the old stain off. Anything I did wrong and things to do right?

I agree with the others. It's not going to work without quite a bit of modification and frankly the amount of money into materials that you would spend would better goo towards a 50-100 count humi from someplace like Cheap Humidors or Cuban Crafters. I would get some polyurethane and finish it so it looks nice and then use it to keep my cutters, lighters and other accessories.

[scoob]

Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Thanks guys. Now... to. Find a humidor :P

[prophetic_joe]

50 counts
http://www.cheaphumidors.com/p_small..._HUM-25EL.html

http://www.cheaphumidors.com/p_small...-25-GLASS.html

100 count
http://www.cheaphumidors.com/p_mediu...HUM-75DRG.html

150 count
http://www.cheaphumidors.com/p_mediu...s_HUM-3DR.html