My First Humidor

[BrokenOlMarine]

I am in the process of attempting my first Humidor. 

I know, I know, it's basically a box.  I have built a number of those. 
  But, one of my former Marines called and asked if I thought I could build one for him, as he would love to have ME provide one for his office.  The kid always had potential, I knew it from the first day I say him sitting in the classroom in Millington.  He was one of my Aviation Electronics students and went on to serve the Corps with honor, eventually making it thru MSG school and posting around the world, guarding the Embassies.  

He wanted me to do something special, so the Humidor would be hand made by his "Rabbi" and not just something he ordered on the internet or bought at his favorite cigar store. 
  So far, I have a Mahogany base, with a Mahogany top inlaid with a bookmatched black walnut panel.  I ordered the brass 95 degree hinges and the 5/16 straight router bit to install them, and the spanish cedar to line the box.  I have sanded the exterior of all parts to 320 at this point... and matched the edges so there is no gap.

I am at the routing for the hinges point, and the pucker factor is high... 

  ... a slip up or misjudgement here... and I am starting over. 
  I understand you DON'T finish the interior of the cedar lined humidor.  The cedar emits chemicals that protect the cigars from small bugs if he should pick up a bad cigar.  That will kill off the little bugs and their larva, and protect the rest of the contents.  Sheesh, the five small panels of cedar were as expensive as the hinges and router bit combined. 

   

   

Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated.
My plan is to stain the walnut panel before I glue it into the mahogany frame to avoid accidentally getting black walnut stain on the mahogany panels.  I'll glue in the cedar panels last, after the hinges are installed, in case I have to start over. 


I plan to finish in Watco Oil and Waxed finish on the exterior and let the interior remain natural as recommended on the various videos I've watched.  This box was done in the Watco and Wax finish.

   

[crokett™]

for something like this I would prefer to use a hand chisel or hand drill (I don't know if either are possible with your hinge design) because of the pucker factor. It takes much less time to get into trouble with a router.

[BrokenOlMarine]

for something like this I would prefer to use a hand chisel or hand drill (I don't know if either are possible with your hinge design) because of the pucker factor.  It takes much less time to get into trouble with a router.

Yeah, I rarely use the router table, it's a thirty year old craftsman.  However, the instructions for the hinge installation calls for a single eighth inch pass, with a stop blocked cut set at a certain distance on the top and one side, then flip the set up and carefully repeat the two cuts for the other sides, top and bottom.  Cutting with a chisel, and arthritic hands, a single slip, and I'm done... starting over. 


Since the hinges hide the cuts, you can go slow, and if you get a burn mark or two... they won't be seen.  Normally I'm in your camp, hand tools all the way. 

[BrokenOlMarine]

I don't think I have used the router in two years.

[MarkSingleton]

For something this important, perhaps get the set up on the router table
and test it with a prototype piece a couple of times. So you KNOW that
it works as desired and you have the technique down pat before you
do the cut on the project.

Have done a few projects in this manner and was darn glad I did. Some
that I did not, well, let's just say I had to start over...

Keep us posted, looks like a good start!!

[crokett™]

Making many test cuts on scrap is an excellent suggestion. that will help reduce the pucker factor some since it will also get you used to using the router table again after a 2 year absence.

[BrokenOlMarine]

Good advice.
The instructions say to do just that, for the purpose of both centering the hinge on the side, and to get the stop block depth correct. 

[Dan Moening]

 I'll glue in the cedar panels last, after the hinges are installed, in case I have to start over.

IIRC traditionally, the cedar panels are not glued, but simply float.

Cut them so they just slip in ... once the humidor is "charged" the panels will swell and not come loose.
And, correct, no finish on the interior.

It's looking like a fantastic start !

[Cdshakes]

Wow, it's looking great.
Yeah, I would definitely suggest a test cut on scrap-- of the same species as the box-- knowing the test cut worked great on some old piece of pine may have different results come your "real cut".

Good luck-- show us the results!

Colin

[brnhornt]

I know the position you are in oh so very well.  There is a reason that I have three "storage" boxes that we all going to be humidors.

What hinges are you using?  I went with brusso and also purchased their router template.  That made it a little less puckerish.  Second, I build a box with the same dimensions out of plain wood that I had laying around. (one difference is when I cut the lid off the box I added an inch of "height" to the lid...makes sense later)  That gave me a test carcass.  the mating surfaces needed to be exactly aligned and in plane...I should have built a jig...but I tried to wing it the first time and just clamped things together.  Route, drill out the mortise and then fit everything together.  One tip...buy a bunch of steel wood screws the same as your final screws so you can test, test, test, and test.  My first attempt failed...no biggie...I just planed the mortises away...then sanded everything flat again with paper on cast iron.  (this is the reason I wanted the test lid "higher"...to give me material that I could wipe away)  After a second attempt...I felt I was ready for the real thing.  I shouldn't have made that leap...I should have stayed with the test carcass a few more times until I could knock it out blindfolded.  It wasn't a perfect fit...but I could live with it.  Got everything assembled and was feeling really good about it.  Installed the cedar lining...I believe I just used a dab of glue in the middle of each board...and it would close smooth as a baby's butt.  Off I go to season it.  Did my normal wiping down with distilled water...no problem...again the next day...no problem...and then again the next day leaving a small sponge in the box overnight...woke up the next morning and the whole thing was warped.  Couldn't even open the lid.  Good chance that if I had been more patient it would have freed up as it dried back out...but in my youthful anger I forced the box open when then cracked/broke some of the cedar lining.  I was so upset with myself and the process I ripped it apart.  The base of the box is used to store my Tormek jigs.  I tried again several years later...this time doing a box with inlayed dovetails.  Still didn't make a jig for holding the top and bottom while routing...and when assembled...it was off by 1/32nd of an inch.  You'd never see that...except for the dang stupid inlayed dovetails.  So I gave up on that one as well.  I didn't destroy it...thankfully some patience had developed in me...and it's in my shop now with a plan of gluing in some wenge to the top of the box and then bottom of the lid...so that where the two meet/join aren't vertical lines that scream out if it's not perfectly aligned.  That reminds me...I need to get that out and get back to work on it


Sorry for the rambling...I hope what I typed makes some sense...and good luck!
Kevin