I just figured out how to put a piano finish on a humidor ... that was the last problem I had to overcome.  So, now the one I donate for the Toys For Tots auction will be freakin' perfect!

Can't wait to see it!

Awesome!  Did you use a flat black or oil and Japan drier?

The urethane is Arm-R-Seal ... about 15 coats ... throughout the entire process.  The final five coats are in the paint booth ... the final finishing coat gets:

sanded with 600, 1000 and 2000 Sungold finishing disks ... then the magic starts ... and the sore arms.

Brasso (yes ... the metal polish ... it is great for removing the fine marks of the 2000 grit sand paper) ... five times each side with five shining passes each (same with all of the following) ... this leaves a perfect matte finish ... if that is what the customer wants then I'm done.

Menzerna IP 2000 (five and five again) ... leaves a semi-gloss ...

Menzerna SF 4500 (five and five) ... a flawless piano gloss finish.

But here is the problem ... all of these steps are done by hand with an old t-shirt ... every attempt at a mechanical solution leaves squiggly marks in the finish ...

It takes about four hours ... after I'm done my arm feels like I've been doing bad things to myself all day long.

I got the idea from Tom Moynahan at General Finishes when he told me about his restore of a Rolls-Royce ... it required 23 coats of hand polished lacquer ...

That hand work is what makes a great finish and this  way you can get youre arm's in shape without having to resort to self abuse.  

Thats awesome. I havent built one, yet. Im looking forward to building one though.

Can't wait to see some pics.

I've had good results getting a high gloss finish using rotten stone but it's all elbow grease and patience.
Congratulations

Look forward to seeing it.

Sean:

I do not know your skill level so this may be a bit presumptuous ... so just know I have no intention of insult.

Let me know when you are ready and I'll give you access to the two sites I used as tutorials: 

The Wood Whisperer Guild (check your messages)

Fine Woodworking 

• Veneered Boxes with a Twist
• A Box Worth Repeating
• 52 boxes in 52 weeks  
• How to Build a Solid Humidor
• Elegant Veneered Boxes
• Book-matched veneer ... the attribute that makes a Winsor unique  

There are over a dozen box articles on the Finewoodworking site ... all of the (well most) can be adapted to create beautiful and unique humidors. The design I'm currently using is great but as an only offering, it may become dated. I'm always looking for a new, relatively easy to construct box plan, so as to offer more diversity. The only criteria for the box is that the plan must incorporate ...

... my humidity seal design:

• The seal components  
• A box within a box

I'm currently designing a method to seal standard cabinet drawers. I'm almost done. When that drawer seal is complete I can then turn any cabinet into a humidor ... how awesome would a lingerie cabinet  humidor be.  It could store my two favorite things in the world!

At that point, the sky is the limit ... well, my budget is the limit.

This guy raised the bar for excellence, a birds-eye maple and wenge humidor .

 

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This  is my plan for December  ... make a humidor with a chessboard lid, where the cigar storage is directly beneath, just like any other ol' humi, which then sits upon (joined to) a box having two opposing drawers to store the chess pieces.

can't wait to see the pics