Hi guys, newbie to the forum here. I've been plotting and planning to build myself a nice humidor for a couple weeks now and have some questions for guys who know more than me. In some light reading i've come to realize how crappy cheap humidors really are, and reinforces my desire to build myself a nice solid "for the rest of my life" humidor. Along the way I've learned that the type of wood is a lot more important than I would have thought. Spanish cedar is clearly the most popular/best quality wood to use for this application. It's also rather expensive and not easy to find, especially in Minnesota.
So, my biggest question is: what would the pros/cons be of using some thick (6/4 or bigger) cuts of black walnut to build a humidor? I had originally intended on building it from black walnut, and then lining the inside with spanish cedar, then I started to look into it and discovered how damn expensive it is. From what i've been able to find online, to line the inside of the humidor with spanish cedar it's going to cost me just as much as the big boy slab of black walnut. Doesn't seem logical. So back to my original question, how big of a deal would it be if I build the humidor from black walnut and didn't line it with cedar?
Also, if I do go the route of lining it with cedar, how important is it that the cedar pieces completely cover the inside with the edges perfectly sealed? I was peeking at some other people's humidor builds and it doesn't look like they completely lined the inside with sealed edges and such, they just slapped a bunch of spanish cedar in there as if it were just there to absorb and retain moisture.
And in case you were curious, my plan is to build something in the neighborhood of 18" wide, 12" deep, and 8" tall from one solid slab of black walnut. Cut the two sides and front piece in order and miter the edges so the grain looks perfectly uniform wrapping around the sides to the front. The interior needs to be at least 7.5" front to back to be able to fit my Churchill's, of course. No stain, just poly to get the grain to pop. Then to finish I'm going to source some antique door pull handles from ebay to attach to the sides.
Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge!
So, my biggest question is: what would the pros/cons be of using some thick (6/4 or bigger) cuts of black walnut to build a humidor? I had originally intended on building it from black walnut, and then lining the inside with spanish cedar, then I started to look into it and discovered how damn expensive it is. From what i've been able to find online, to line the inside of the humidor with spanish cedar it's going to cost me just as much as the big boy slab of black walnut. Doesn't seem logical. So back to my original question, how big of a deal would it be if I build the humidor from black walnut and didn't line it with cedar?
Also, if I do go the route of lining it with cedar, how important is it that the cedar pieces completely cover the inside with the edges perfectly sealed? I was peeking at some other people's humidor builds and it doesn't look like they completely lined the inside with sealed edges and such, they just slapped a bunch of spanish cedar in there as if it were just there to absorb and retain moisture.
And in case you were curious, my plan is to build something in the neighborhood of 18" wide, 12" deep, and 8" tall from one solid slab of black walnut. Cut the two sides and front piece in order and miter the edges so the grain looks perfectly uniform wrapping around the sides to the front. The interior needs to be at least 7.5" front to back to be able to fit my Churchill's, of course. No stain, just poly to get the grain to pop. Then to finish I'm going to source some antique door pull handles from ebay to attach to the sides.
Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge!
