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I am making 3 mission style large humidors

V

vern

Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2001
Messages
827
I have been a cabinet maker for 30 years although for the last 15 I have been doing custom work and carved signs and have been blessed to not have to go out looking for work as I have had all I could handle by word of mouth.Two months ago my work slowed down quite a bit ,of course for the first month I just figured Hey this is great,The second month I decided I better do something so..
I am building some rather large humidors that look like old fashioned iceboxes.
I think there are two problems with the old iceboxes,.... After all those years sometimes the wood in them is kinda funky and when and if you can find one,they still need a fair amount of work to make them into a quality cedar lined humidor.
The ones that I am making are 14 inches deep by 30 inches wide and 36 inches tall, They are misson style ( my own design) and have three triple sealed doors.They are being made from mahogany with Spanish cedar interiors.I am having so much fun doing these that I wonder why I don't do things on spec more often...Oh ya ...Now I remember..The money.
I will see if I can find a way to post pictures of my progress if anyone is interested.
 
Thanks sam..I think I have found someone to host my pics,so hopefully I will soon be adding a link for them.
The wife and the bill collectors would like it if I didn't have any slow times but personaly I will miss them.
I have already had one guy email me and ask for prices,so he is the first on my list to get back to when these are finished.
 
Hey Vern, if need be you could put your pictures on my site.
Can I be your Southeastern Rep? That way we could travel and write off expenses...:)JerryG
 
Hey vern. I am also making a large humi. I'm planning on a 4' by 7' by 15''. I have made tables before but never a cabinet. I was hoping you could give me a tip, how do you seal the cabinet enough for it to stay at 70 humidity? Also, what glue do you use for the Spanish Cedar lining? I don't think I could use regular wood glue b/c of the humidity. If you know the answers to these questions, it would be a REALLY BIG help. Thanks Vern.
 
BTW, I would also really like to see the progress of your work. Good luck with it.
 
Puro Man- When I built my humidor (http://www.springcreek.com/humidor.html)
I used regular WoodTite carpenters glue for the exterior. The spanish cedar was glued together for boarding out but no glue or nails were used in it's insertion. For sealing used my mix of Danish Oil - equal parts boiled linseed oil, turpentine and matt polyurethane. 4 or 5 coats on bottom of floated birch faced ply.Some people use the Gorilla brand glue because they "say" it is waterproof. Dunno,Jusy my 2 cents....JerryG(Edited by JerryG at 8:49 pm on Aug. 12, 2001)
 
PuroMan..
IMO The best type of jointery to use is panel and groove. And the panels should be hardwood ply,3/8"
would be fine.The reason to use ply panels is that they have very little expansion and contraction compared with solid stock. The most important part of the cabinet is good door seals.
As to the type of adhesive,there is only one I would recommend..this is a polyurathane glue,there are several different brands of this glue and all are good.One brand is Gorilla Glue,but the one that I use is Probond which is made by Elmers.The reason to use this adhesive are that it foams when it cures and therefore it fills all gaps,and it also is unaffected by the resins in spanish cedar.
I hope this helps
 
So Vern, when you use ply, do you veneer the whole thing after or what? I was planning on using Popler wood and just staining it my desired color. I thought of using ply, but to veneer the whole thing would take much longer to make, right? Anyway, please let me know what you think. Thank you for those great replies.JerryG, thanks for the website pics, I looked at them and you made one fine lookin' humi.
 
Puro:
There is no real good substuite for good quailty ,All hardwood Ply.for a hummi the size of the one you are building. I use all Mahogany Ply because it is a cigar friendly wood ,and if you buy a good grade there is no need to veneer. I use honduran mahogany for all solid wood elements,once I get pics posted you will see my construction techniques. I have used Polyureathane glue for years,It has no equal for the reasons I have listed and it also has no fumes.
As for finishing , I personally use precatilized lacquer,but this is a" professional Only" finish. Jerrys advice for finishing is great ,just make sure any finish that you use is only on the outside of the hummi and do not put cigars in the hummi until the finish has had at least a week to cure as even though your finish has had time to dry it will still be gassing off for that long.
 
Vern, they are going to be outstanding, my friend. Please keep sending those pictures. I am already thinking about which boxes would fit very nicely, lol!
 
Vern, thank you VERY much for all the help, your opinion and tips will be with me as I construct this baby! I am very excited about it.
 
thanks go out to DigitalGuy as he was very patient with me in getting these pics. posted.
Pic #3&4 are the same, they are pics of the base and corner posts of one of the humidors
Pic #2..shows the clamping that I am doing for the glue up on a side panel
Pic #1 ,shows what a unfinisher side panel will look like.(note: the color will all be even when the mahogany is stained and finished.
Oh Ya..Here is the link for the pics.
http://www.free-radical.com/humi/
Click on the small photo for larger view
whats up
(Edited by vern at 6:21 am on Aug. 15, 2001)
 
I now have three serious Inquiries, and since I am only making three Humidors I am letting all know that those three will have the choice of first refusal when these are completed. Some have asked me what the selling price will be and my answer has been evasive, I am sorry for this. I am not trying to be coy it is just that I am still planning some of the details of the interiors and I honestly don't know, For purposes of estimation though I will say that I am looking at a figure of approx. 1,500. I know this may sound like a lot to some but I assure you it is at least 1,000 below what I would usually charge for custom work of this nature.
Thanks for everyone's interest I will continue to post images of my progress.
 
Vern, I want your workshop!And yes, my finish only for the outside. No finish on the inside. Extra coat or two on the bottom toseal the float.Your price sounds fair to me. Custom work of this caliber often goes for much higher.Happy dovetailing :)
JerryG.
 
Thanks Jerry.If you ever visit the NW. or if I ever get down to your neck of the woods ,I hope we can have pow wow over cigars.
Well I had a small setback in my building plans. After I did my full scale layout I found out that my cabinet was to narrow for me to have the 11+ inch wide opening on my doors that I wanted so I have changed the deminsions and now the cabinet will be 34" wide.
I am suprised that no one has asked about the triple seal doors.This idea came from an old Dunhill humidor that I got a chance to study about a year ago,It is not only a very cool looking feature but it is the best way that I have seen to make an all wood door seal.I took the profile to my local saw shop and am having a special cutter made for my shaper to cut this profile.The cutter will set me back 150 bucks,OUCH..Oh well maybe I will make more than three and there is no other real good way of doing this without this cutter. As soon as I have more pics I will post them. Thanks all for your interest
 
Wow Vern, I am studying your pics like a good grasshopper:) Your workshop is quite impressive. Keep up the good work!:)
 
Thanks Puro...Be patient with me guys ,I should have some more pics by the end of the week.As with al good things I don't want to hurry this.
 
HEY I got three new pics sent to George so hopefully they will be posted soon..
 
There Here !!! With speical thanks to our Cigar Pass Brother Jerry G. ,Here are a couple of more pics..
Oh ya here is the addy.http://www.springcreek.com/vern
 
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