Desktop Humidor bottom thickness

[antaean]

I was at the local B&M the other day. I enjoy going to the local merchant's shops to enter their walk-in humidors and admire the expensive humidors for sale. I took my metal ruler to check some inside box dimensions (after all, Father's Day is coming...).

When I checked several humidors, I noticed that the measurements showed bottom thicknesses of about one-eighth inch!!! The inside bottoms looked like spanish cedar. However the outside bottoms had glued-on felt and could not be observed. Most of these humidors are quite similar in appearance to those readily found on line for maybe $30 to $150. The humidors over $300 seemed to have about one-half inch thicknesses.

My desktop at home has about one-quarter inch bottom thickness, spanish cedar inside bottom, and no, I didn't tear the felt off to look at it.

I have read elsewhere that a humidor should have at least one-quarter inch thick spanish cedar lining and an outside wood thickness of at least five-eighths inch. My question: Why would the bottoms have such thin thicknesses? It never occurred to me to check bottom thickness before. Does anyone else have any experience with this?

antaean

 

[Mrepp]

Well in most desktop humidors the Spanish cedar isn’t very thick at all. It’s a shell that’s inserted into the decorative wood be it burl wood finished or what ever they chose to make it with. This shell’s seams are sealed then the shell is attached inside of the decorative wood. Then the top edges are finished to seal with the Spanish inset that gets affixed to your lid. Basically it’s all show. One could probably have a thin 1/8” thick Spanish cedar shell for their humidor. So alas your question the bottom thickness doesn’t matter, the seal is the key. A 300$ humidor needs to be charged every 4-5 months probably because of a solid crisp seal. At 30$ one needs to be charged every month to 2 months depending on how often its opened. Hope this helps.

-Mark

 

[TOFan]

A 300$ humidor needs to be charged every 4-5 months probably because of a solid crisp seal. At 30$ one needs to be charged every month to 2 months depending on how often its opened. Hope this helps.

-Mark

When you say charged do you mean the inside of the humidor should be wiped down with distilled water? Or is it the humidification system that needs to be charged?

 

[Mrepp]

A 300$ humidor needs to be charged every 4-5 months probably because of a solid crisp seal. At 30$ one needs to be charged every month to 2 months depending on how often its opened. Hope this helps.

-Mark

When you say charged do you mean the inside of the humidor should be wiped down with distilled water? Or is it the humidification system that needs to be charged?

Well, very little do I wipe down the wood in mine because if its at a good humidity the wood will stay wet for quite a while if it has a good seal (could cause mold). I mean the humidification system. Of course there’s different variations out there with different capacities, those time ranges are the general rule of thumb.

 

[TOFan]

A 300$ humidor needs to be charged every 4-5 months probably because of a solid crisp seal. At 30$ one needs to be charged every month to 2 months depending on how often its opened. Hope this helps.

-Mark

When you say charged do you mean the inside of the humidor should be wiped down with distilled water? Or is it the humidification system that needs to be charged?

Well, very little do I wipe down the wood in mine because if its at a good humidity the wood will stay wet for quite a while if it has a good seal (could cause mold). I mean the humidification system. Of course there’s different variations out there with different capacities, those time ranges are the general rule of thumb.

That is what I thought you meant. :thumbs: When I bought my humidor I did wipe it down with distilled water, but I haven’t done it since.

Oh yeah… my humidor also has a very thin felt lined bottom.

 

[antaean]

I found a comment on a retail site that says the bottom thicknesses are intentionally thinner to "allow the humidor to breathe". I am not sure that I believe this but certainly seems plausible.

antaean