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NewAir 281 Build

N

NewtoSticks

Member
Joined
May 21, 2013
Messages
34
Location
507 24th Street NE Paris, TX 75460
I have decided to build a wineador. I saw the NewAir 281 on air-and-water.com through their scratch and dent sale, and I just couldn't pass up the deal at 50% off. I place my order on a Friday, and received my unit on the follow Thursday. With free shipping how could I complain. The plastic smell was awful. I wiped it down well with distilled water, and put it in my garage with the door open to air out. I left it there for a few days, then stuffed it full on news paper. After 48 hours the smell was gone. I was surprised how easy it was to get rid of. Then dent was on the top left back corner. I plan to build a cabinet to hold 2 units. One for boxes and one for sticks. This should give me plenty of room considering that I am stepping up from a 75 count desk top unit. As soon as I figure out how to post pictures I will show how I have moved forward.
 
So lets get start on some details. I know this has been covered a thousand times, but I know that when I was looking for information to help with my setup it is either hot or cold. It always seemed to be the same theme. Either beads or kitty litter, or why waste the money, just but a cabinet. For my needs, I really needed the temperature control. In northeast Texas our temps can go from 100 to below freezing in the same day. Obviously this can be an issue.

When I decided that a wineador was the route I was going, I started to look for the best deal possible. This lead to more issues. With the market flooded with cheap coolers. I just wasn't sure what model or brand I should go with. With a search I found a few places to get cedar shelves online. It seemed that everyone made NewAir stuff standard. If you had a less popular brand then your needed to send the sizing for the unit to get them custom made. This alone made up my mine. It the NewAir brand was popular enough for the to be building them in volume, then it was good enough for me. Which led me to air-and-water.com. Looking through their sale items I saw the model 281 on scratch and dent sale for 50% off. I gambled because they said all items were in working condition. I was pleased with a small dent on the back.

So now i have my fancy unit, now what. It smelled terrible. A quick search on a few forums I found to wipe it down, and stuff it full on news papers. After a few days the smell was gone. Easy enough.

Since I had been out of the game for some time, all I had was a desk top unit that held a few stick. I didn't have any boxes to get the process started. I had to wait a few days until I could get to Dallas to pick up a few empty boxes to get some wood in this thing. While I was in Dallas I took advantage of being close to a Pet Smart and picked up some Exqusicat crystals. They were out of the 7lb bag, so I know own enough litter to run a humidor for a lifetime I'm sure. After a very impatience ride home I load the cooler with a few empty boxes, calibrate a hygrometer, and pour 2.5lbs of litter in a plastic container. I let it set over night to settle down.

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After 24 hours my humidity was only showing 56%. I went ahead and put in a old hygrometer that I trust, and it showed within 1% if not exactly the same. I know for sure at this point I wasn't going to get to where I needed to be. Which can be expected when I put in 5 dry boxes. I filled up a spray bottle with DW, and gave the kitty litter a few sprays. Over the next few days I slowly brought up my RH, and continued to spray my KL until I got up to about 62%. I let it be for a few days with a 85% Boveda pack, and everything settled out at a constant 65%. Now I through in some of my collection, and let it settle again
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I wanted to get some drawers and shelves, but what a wait time to get some made. Since I own a cabinet and furniture shop, I called up my wood vendor in Dallas. Sure enough they had some cedar in stock. I threw in a few boards with my next order, and waited. After careful measurements of my cooler I started working on a shelf today. The lumber came 1 inch thick. Which is way to much for anything I would need, I proceeded to just plain half my investment away. After a few hours of work, I came out with a good shelf. I got it installed this evening and it turned out great.
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. It did drop my RH a little, but I just through in the 85 Boveda pack, and everything returned to normal. I plan to build a drawer tomorrow, and if it works out to my liking, I will setup a coolador to get all this new wood seasoned.
 
Don't mix a Boveda with beads. It is 2 way humidity control so it will pull from the beads. So either use the beads, or use Boveda.
 
I got some free time in the wood shop today, and decided to step up the shelf I had built. I plained down another piece of cedar and got to work. I think it turned out well for my first attempt. I had time to make up a second and my spacing was a little off, but nothing a table saw can fix.
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I can't see your pics. Says I don't have permission to view that album.
 
NewtoSticks said:
Spanish Cedar for sure. Just was using "cedar" to save the extra key strokes. This stuff is expensive. I can buy premium clear hardwood for nearly half the cost, but my house and shops smells amazing.
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Whew I was hoping you'd say that. Nicely done.
 
Nice job. Where are you in Texas? As for your choice of sticks, your looking good. Wish I knew how to work with wood and had the stuff, but that's why this forum is cool. I also have a 281 of eBay for $60. The Price was right. Keep the cards and letters coming, we all enjoy seeing it.
 
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