Jack Straw
Active Member
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2005
- Messages
- 2,702
After seeing what some of the handier woodworkers here on CP were doing, and realizing my cabinet building skills were, at best, minimal I decided to visit several of the more well-known humidor cabinet websites and see what I needed to save in order to increase my storage capacity. As I already own an Avallo 1200 Delux, and have been thoroughly pleased with their humidification system, I stopped there first.
While looking at several models offered, not only by Avallo, but from Bob Staebell as well, I asked my wife for her opinion. It was one of those moments of why didn't I think of this, she said, "They all look nice, like old-fashioned armoires for cigars.", that started the wheels spinning!
I started searching 2nd hand stores for armoires/wardrobes, all the while thinking that all I needed to do was find the right one, line it with the appropriate materials, add some shelving and a humidification device, and it should work. The first thing I discovered was that there is a glut of these on the market, as the demand for them has, in the past, been to convert them into entertainment centers, but wide screen, high definition tv's have killed that market, as they are not wide enough to accomodate the new sized televisions.
Here is the unit I decided on, it's birch:
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Externally it measures - 72" high x 36" wide x 21" deep
After I got it home, I started pricing Spanish Cedar plywood to line it, and was amazed at how expensive it was. Then I remembered reading here on CP how Atuck had lined his walk-in with luan paneling. Around $10.00 for a 4' x 8' sheet of 1/8" thick stock at Lowe's, now that's a doable number, and a 1/4" x 4' x 8' sheet for the back was only about $20.00.
A bit of contact cement, some white glue, some Spanish Cedar shelving, Avallo's 20-40 humidification system, and a new cabinet humidor!!
">
I lined the doors with foam tape insulation, and put a couple magnets on the top and bottom of each door to pull them a bit tighter when closed, and after a couple of days of conditioning, it's holding rock solid at 67% (my choice) rh at every shelf.
">
It dropped a bit with the door open for the picture, but took less than 2 minutes to return to 67% rh after I closed the doors!
">
One of the 4 water canisters.
">
One of four circulation fans, and the adjustable humidity sensor.
">
Upper circulation fans, and the center water canisters.
A couple of changes that I need to make are stiffening up the shelves a bit, and tightening up the wiring, just to make things a bit neater, but all in all, I am quite pleased with how it turned out. It's a very functional unit, and my wife loves the fact that it looks like a "regular" piece of furniture in my home office.
The most expensive part of the entire project was the Avallo 20-40 humidification unit, which runs around $400.00 with the optional fan timer, a nice option, which turns all 4 fans on for a minute every hour to move the air around inside the cabinet, and keeps the humidity more evenly distributed.
This was a fairly straight forward project, especially for guys/gals like me, who have a few power tools, but limited woodworking experience. Take advantage of some cabinetmaker's skill, and adapt his work to your needs.
The cabinet is currently the home to approximately 50 - 55 boxes, and should easily hold 150 - 175 once I beef up the shelves a bit!
edited for spelling
While looking at several models offered, not only by Avallo, but from Bob Staebell as well, I asked my wife for her opinion. It was one of those moments of why didn't I think of this, she said, "They all look nice, like old-fashioned armoires for cigars.", that started the wheels spinning!
I started searching 2nd hand stores for armoires/wardrobes, all the while thinking that all I needed to do was find the right one, line it with the appropriate materials, add some shelving and a humidification device, and it should work. The first thing I discovered was that there is a glut of these on the market, as the demand for them has, in the past, been to convert them into entertainment centers, but wide screen, high definition tv's have killed that market, as they are not wide enough to accomodate the new sized televisions.
Here is the unit I decided on, it's birch:
Externally it measures - 72" high x 36" wide x 21" deep
After I got it home, I started pricing Spanish Cedar plywood to line it, and was amazed at how expensive it was. Then I remembered reading here on CP how Atuck had lined his walk-in with luan paneling. Around $10.00 for a 4' x 8' sheet of 1/8" thick stock at Lowe's, now that's a doable number, and a 1/4" x 4' x 8' sheet for the back was only about $20.00.
A bit of contact cement, some white glue, some Spanish Cedar shelving, Avallo's 20-40 humidification system, and a new cabinet humidor!!
I lined the doors with foam tape insulation, and put a couple magnets on the top and bottom of each door to pull them a bit tighter when closed, and after a couple of days of conditioning, it's holding rock solid at 67% (my choice) rh at every shelf.
It dropped a bit with the door open for the picture, but took less than 2 minutes to return to 67% rh after I closed the doors!
One of the 4 water canisters.
One of four circulation fans, and the adjustable humidity sensor.
Upper circulation fans, and the center water canisters.
A couple of changes that I need to make are stiffening up the shelves a bit, and tightening up the wiring, just to make things a bit neater, but all in all, I am quite pleased with how it turned out. It's a very functional unit, and my wife loves the fact that it looks like a "regular" piece of furniture in my home office.
The most expensive part of the entire project was the Avallo 20-40 humidification unit, which runs around $400.00 with the optional fan timer, a nice option, which turns all 4 fans on for a minute every hour to move the air around inside the cabinet, and keeps the humidity more evenly distributed.
This was a fairly straight forward project, especially for guys/gals like me, who have a few power tools, but limited woodworking experience. Take advantage of some cabinetmaker's skill, and adapt his work to your needs.
The cabinet is currently the home to approximately 50 - 55 boxes, and should easily hold 150 - 175 once I beef up the shelves a bit!
edited for spelling
