New, old and first humidor

Started by Eigon, 02/07/2016 09:02 AM

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Eigon

I quite new at this and could do with some help with my first humidor.
You can read my newbie introduction here: http://www.cigargeeks.com/index.php?topic=42296.0

At first my plan was to buy a small Adorini humidor, as that seems to be the brand everyone is selling in Denmark.
But I have been looking at auction sites for old cigarstore humidors, and 2 weeks ago this one showed up.

 

I believe that it was made for a tobacco company under Scandinavian Tobacco Group, and used in cigar shops. Quite a lot have showed up on auctions the last 3-4 years.
I bought it, and is very satisfied with how it look in my livingroom. At the moment I use it to store part of my rum collection.
Besides, it is pimped out with fiber optic ligths, looks really good. :-)
Outer dimensions are 75 x 27 x 16 (if my conversions from centimeter to inch is correct).

But having read this forum, I am not sure if it is the right choice as a humidor.

Firstly, the cabinet is made of veneered cherrywood. I am not sure what the shelves are made of.
I am worried what the wood smell from it will do to the cigars.
It is not a very strong smell, quite pleasant in fact, but you do notice it when you open the cabinet.
I have ordered spanish cedar tree trays to store the cigars in, but will that be enough.
Spanish cedar tree is impossible to buy in Denmark, so I have no idea how it smells and if it will overpower the cherrywood smell.
Perhaps getting hold of more spanish cedar and line the back of cabinet with it will help.
Any thoughts on this?

Secondly, the glass fronts. I can see on the forum that opinions are divided on this.
The seals around the glass are fine, it is very well made.
Placed as the cabinet is now, there will never be any direct sunlight.
My own thoughts is that I am fine with this, so unless I hear anything else here, I do not see this as a problem.
Regarding seals, I might have to do something about the seal around the door, as it seems a bit to loose.

Thirdly, the cabinet is divided in a lower and upper part, and I expect only to use the upper part. But that is still a large space.
And even though I do have a tendency to get collectors mania, it will probably be a while before I can fill the upper part.
How difficult will it be to maintain humidity in such a large cabinet?
Before reading this forum I was going for a electronic humidifier, but now I have started considering Boveda packs, Heartfelt beads and kitty litter.
You really haven't made it easier for me. :-)

Thanks in advance

Eigon

ninfiction

I have a tower humidor myself, and while it is not exactly like yours they are all very similar. Mine also has a veneer on the outside but the shelves and the interior veneer are Spanish cedar. It looks like yours might also be built this way. Many cigars come in boxes that include a very thin cedar sheet, you could use those to line the cabinet if you think the interior isn't already Spanish cedar. I don't believe that 100% Spanish cedar is necessary though. If the shelves and trays are Spanish cedar that should be more than enough.

I sealed my door with some weather stripping: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Frost-King-E-O-7-8-in-x-17-ft-Self-Adhesive-V-Seal-Weather-Strip-M13WH/100113501?keyword=v+seal

It forms a v and is very thin so when the door closes it seals it up pretty good. I've also read about guys that have used a very thin felt to seal the door. You can seal the glass with an aquarium silicon.

It's difficult to tell from the photos but I'm not sure you actually have 2 separate areas. Mine also has a drawer int he middle of the tower but there is space for air to flow around it. It looks like the shelves in yours are slotted and even though the drawer is there I would guess it's not really sealed between the top and bottom.

I use a Hydra LG electric humidifier in mine along with a couple pounds of kitty litter and some boveda packs in the drawers. Humidification is really just a matter of preference, whatever is easiest and works for you.

Hopefully some of the other guys will chime in, there are many here that have cabinet humidors and everyone does it a little differently.
This is not the admin you're looking for...

Eigon

I'm not sure whether the interior is Spanish cedar. Since it was made by a tobacco company as a humidor, I would hope so.
On the other hand, the Danes have a long history of smoking and growing tobacco. It dates back more than 300 years and peaked in 1964 with 1.1 billion consumed cigar products being the world’s largest consumption per inhabitant. So perhaps they sold the cigars so quickly that they didn't care about correct storage. :-)

It might help when I get the trays, and can compare it with those. Hopefully it is Spanish Cedar.

You are right in that the upper and lower part are not quite separate. There are some space between the door and the the middle drawer.
I was thinking about blocking it somehow. It wouldn't look good, but when the door is closed, it would be hidden.

Do you use extra fans with the Hydra LG ?

 

Text in italics blatantly stolen from http://www.danishcigars.com/danish-cigar-history/ Interesting read, I had no idea Denmark used to have tobacco plantations.

Eigon

Ted

I'm in agreement with pretty much everything Brian said on the cedar. The innards are all that matter, and a veneer is common on walls.

I've only had my tower for about a month, and am still working out some kinks. For the door on mine, I had to reverse it, so was able to mount it a little more tightly than originally fitted. I also used a combination of the V seal Brian recommends and 2mm foam weatherstripping. I don't know if you have a furniture outlet in yours, but I had to use silicone seal around that as well.

Without seeing close up, as Brian said that doesn't look like two sealed areas. I would immediately remove the drawers (which don't appear to be cedar) and throw away the green foam. I'm guessing you could very easily fill some mesh bags with beads or KL and place in a cedar tray where the drawers go (depending on air flow).

I'd probably look at an electronic system to put in that bottom spot though, and remove that door in front of it. Is looks like cedar, is it sealed as part of the main component?

okieeagle

That's a really nice looking cabinet.  And I would agree with Brian on how to modify it with the weather stripping or felt to ensure the door seals.  It does look like the interior is cedar and does not appear to have any finish or veneer on it.  I agree, if it's used for tobacco, it would be kind of silly to put veneer on the inside.  But if you can get this thing cheap, I would say go for it!  Worst case is you could always sell it to a B&M near where you live.

Happy Smoking,

okieeagle
"I've got a great cigar collection - it's actually not a collection, because that would imply I wasn't going to smoke every last one of 'em." - Ron White

Eigon

If I remove the drawer in the middle of the cabinet, then there would be free airflow between the upper and lower part, as the middle shelf is not solid.
The shelf is integrated in the cabinet, and cannot be moved.

The lower drawer is placed on a solid shelf, which is a integrated part of the cabinet.
The drawers are definitedly not Spanish Cedar.


The bottom spot is used for the power supply for the fibre optic lights and is closed of to the rest of the cabinet by the shelf below the lower drawer.
Opening the bottom spot up to the rest of the cabinet would be difficult, as both the shelf above and below the drawer are integrated in the cabinet.

 

 

 

Do I get it right, that you would ensure free airflow through the whole cabinet ?

 

Eigon

Eigon

I did go for it :-)  
It is standing in the living room filled up with rum bottles at the moment.

The reason I use pictures from the auction site is that they are of much better quality than what I could take.
But I would really like to use it as a humidor, as it is meant to.

Funny thing, my mother was visiting and admiring the cabinet, while I was talking about filling it up with cigars.
I then started going on about the problems with humidification and she looked quite surprised and asked: Do you mean you want to smoke them. Aren't they just for show?

 

Eigon

Ted

Interesting lighting build there. I'm guessing you are going to lose a lot of humidity through there unless there is some sort of weather stripping on the door that would seal that bottom cabinet where the power is. Although if you do get a good seal there, could easily run a power source for an electronic humidifier.

I do like the cabinet though. Very neat looking. Especially if that is a bottle opener on the right side?  :biggrin:

Would love to see what it looks like lit up!

ninfiction

QuoteEigon - 2/7/2016  12:28 PM

I'm not sure whether the interior is Spanish cedar. Since it was made by a tobacco company as a humidor, I would hope so.
On the other hand, the Danes have a long history of smoking and growing tobacco. It dates back more than 300 years and peaked in 1964 with 1.1 billion consumed cigar products being the world's largest consumption per inhabitant. So perhaps they sold the cigars so quickly that they didn't care about correct storage. :-)

It might help when I get the trays, and can compare it with those. Hopefully it is Spanish Cedar.

You are right in that the upper and lower part are not quite separate. There are some space between the door and the the middle drawer.
I was thinking about blocking it somehow. It wouldn't look good, but when the door is closed, it would be hidden.

Do you use extra fans with the Hydra LG ?

 

Text in italics blatantly stolen from http://www.danishcigars.com/danish-cigar-history/ Interesting read, I had no idea Denmark used to have tobacco plantations.


My guess is that the inside of your cabinet is Spanish cedar. Mine also has 2 drawers in it that are not Spanish cedar, similar to yours. Doesn't cause any issues for me.

I do have 2 fans with my Hydra. The Hydra has a fan kit that you can run the fans right from the Hydra. They use a ribbon wire to plug right into the Hydra and can either run constantly or run only when the Hydra turns on. I believe the Oasis has a similar option.

Here's mine. You can see the weather stripping across the top of the door, there is kitty litter on the top shelf and the middle at the back of the shelf(black blob). You can kind of see the fans.
This is not the admin you're looking for...

Eigon

I have some sound deadening plates I was planning to lead the bottom cabinet with (the power source for the lighting is loud. And generates so much heat, that I only turn it on when I want to show-off).
I believe they would make a good seal.

It is not a bottle opener on the side, I haven't found out yet what it is for.
I have seen pictures of other cabinets on auctions, and none of them had that thingy.
And as a dane I resent the thought that I would need a bottle opener - danes can use anything to open a beer :-)

I have tried taking some pictures of it lit up, but they didn't really come out too great.

 

Eigon

Eigon

Okay, I'm beginning to be convinced that it is Spanish cedar inside the cabinet.
And getting a lot of ideas of how to set it up.
The hardest part is going to be how to decide how to do it with all the different ways I have found on the forum :biggrin:

 

Eigon

Ted

#11

Looks great!

Surprised the lights generate noise and heat? Might consider replacing with LED strip lighting. I'm pretty happy with it in mine and the power is minimal. Just requires a 5v USB power adapter.  Obviously no noise.

I put mine on the back wall, but it looks like you have a spot you could attach that would face inward. Here's mine empty when I was seasoning (a little bright)...  


Eigon

It seems that power supplies for fiber optics run quite hot and has very noisy fan built in.

The actual fiber optic lights does not seem to get hot. 

Eigon

ninfiction

I bought some LED light strips for mine too, but haven't installed them yet. I went total DIY for my lights, bought a roll of tiny LED lights that I can cut to length and solder together with wire in between so each level of my humidor will have a separate strip and I found a little wireless remote to turn them off and on and can make the flash...yeah that won't happen, but it also has a dimmer. Everything works great just haven't done the cutting/soldering/installing part yet.
This is not the admin you're looking for...

Ted

How hot? Enough to rise into the upper levels and increase the temps in the humidor? Maybe you can find some quieter fans?

Ted

Quoteninfiction - 2/7/2016  3:00 PM  I bought some LED light strips for mine too, but haven't installed them yet. I went total DIY for my lights, bought a roll of tiny LED lights that I can cut to length and solder together with wire in between so each level of my humidor will have a separate strip and I found a little wireless remote to turn them off and on and can make the flash...yeah that won't happen, but it also has a dimmer. Everything works great just haven't done the cutting/soldering/installing part yet.

Strobe lights?!  :biggrin:

Party at your place!  :lmao:  


Eigon

If I let it run, then I believe it would raise the temps in the humidor. I used to build my computers for silent running, perhaps I can do something like that with larger, slower fans. I have to do some testing and see what I can do with it. It would be a shame not being able to use the lights, it looks really good.
Eigon

Ted

I'm sure it does! Sounds like a fun project too.


   
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