Humidor Spotlight By Heath Published: Wed February 6, 2008 12:42pm PrintEmail
You just never know who your gonna meet on a message board these days. So many people, so many hobbies. I ran across another BOTL (Brother of the Leaf) on a message board that has nothing to do with cigars whatsoever. Rob R. of blank blank. Our conversations eventually lead to his custom humidor that he designed himself.
(Click on the picture below for a more "up close" look.)
CigarStudent.com: How long have you been a cigar smoker?
Robby R.: I started smoking cigars when I was 18, and this year, I'm 50! LOL it went by quickly. When I started, it was a stick here and a stick there, I wasn't buying boxes.
CS: How long have you been a woodworker?
RR: Hehehehe, he said wood... I'm not actually a woodworker, that humidor was a wedding present, and I've gotten much more enjoyment out of it than I ever did my wife (ex!). Her father is a pretty good woodworker/furniture maker, and I'm an engineer, so I drew up the dimensions, specified the materials, i.e., Black Walnut on the outside, Spanish Cedar on the inside.
CS: What was the total cost of your project compared to store bought humidors?
RR: Well there are no store bought humidors like this that I'm aware of :-) CHECK OUT THE PICS! I mean, this baby is a fine piece of furniture! And it's climate controlled! The cost to build it was high, over 1,000. However, this was due in large part to the cost of the electronics. Many of the components were at a cost of "X" for one, a cost of "Y" for 5, a cost of "Z" for 100, etc... So if one were to mass produce for sale this unit, I believe I could cut the price in half. But I've never seen anything like it anywhere else, so it's difficult to compare.
(click on pic for a larger look)
CS: How long did it take you to complete?
RR: That's a great question. Actually, my "ex Father-in-law" (SOB), when we began the project, I explained "repeatedly", look this is NOT a piece of furniture. We're building a refrigerator. It must be virtually "air tight". The tolerances on a good humidor are very tight, much more so than your typical piece of furniture. He was fine with that when we discussed it, however, seemed increasingly frustrated by my demanding high standards. And at one point said "here you go".
I felt I need to add additional insulation, so I had him cut me cedar panels and strips to my specifications and I proceeded to glue them in to place. It was a painstaking process... All in all, it took months to complete.
CS: What were the steps to complete your humidor?
RR: It was VERY involved.
First, I wasn't sure on the size, so I build a mock-up out of cut up cardboard boxes. The mockup was fairly sophisticated in and of itself as I designed it so I could slide the panels horizontally to expand the size. I did this to try to come up with what I thought the best size would be for the room, matching other furniture, etc... I kept sliding it bigger, Bigger, BIGGER! And the ex would say, don't you think that's a little too big? (She said that a lot LOL!). So I found what was the best size/external dimensions.
Then I had to research the cooling system. I knew I wanted a TEC (Thermo Electric Cooler). A TEC is basically an air conditioner/heater without the moving components of a compressor, burner, etc... It's fairly sophisticated technology. I had to take the square footage inside my humidor, and then the cooling requirements, and size the TEC accordingly. Taking in to account additional factors like; - How far did I want to move the temperature? i.e., I was going for 10 degrees. I live in a ranch/one level house, and in the summer, it can get warm, so I was thinking worst case scenario, if it's 80 degrees in the house, I want it to be 70 degrees in the humidor. - Additional heat sources, there are fans inside the humidor, a muffin fan on the TEC, and a circulation fan (additional muffin). So I had to account for BTUs for those fans. - Insulation and heat dissipation through the materials in the humidor. It was very complex, I worked for at least a week with various Engineers discussing all of the variables before I came to my decision.
Then once it was spec'ed, I used some graph paper (with a grid laid out on it?) and created blue print diagrams to scale, including exact dimensions, height, width, internal, external dimensions, how the top would fit, etc. I went about acquiring all of the components, which were numerous. - The wood, that was the easy part. - A piece of tempered, smoked glass for the top which I had to have cut and ground to my specifications. - The TEC, and the power supply. Note, the TEC takes DC power, but this unit plugs in to the wall. So I have ostensibly a PC power supply that plugs in to the wall, then converts to DC Power, and I run DC to the TEC. - The additional muffin fan, and some relays and sensors. It is designed so that if it is on and running, and you open the lid, the fans shut off. This is controlled via a series of sensors and relays that break power when you open the lid. - All of the wiring and wiring distribution blocks fuses.
One of the key considerations here was NOT TO START A FIRE!! Great care was taken to ensure this is a safe design.
CS: How many cigars will it hold?
RR: When I filled it, I took everything out and counted, and including a full tray on top, and a reasonable fill of boxes in the bottom (you have to leave some room for air flow), it holds approximately 1000 sticks!
(click on pic)
CS: What do you like best about it?
RR: I like the fact that it's original, there's not another one like it, and in fact, there's nothing even similar. It's very well made, and looks like a fine piece of furniture, and it gives me virtually whatever I want to smoke at arms length away, anytime I want it. And if I have a party? Or company? Well, we're all good to go!
CS: And finally, what is your favorite cigar?
RR: Ohhh that's a toughie! I have so many! But I think, the best one I remember ever smoking, was a UTS (UnTold Story), in Maduro. The super bowl was on, and I smoked this fabulous cigar, and it was so good, I literally had dreams about it that night! What a stick! But I have many many many very fine cigars, including a wide assortment of ISOMs ;-)
Well, I for one would love to have a humidor like Robby R.'s of Atlanta, GA. Truly a work of art, and a labor of love. Maybe there is a stick in there for yours truly ...
Look for more articles here on CigarStudent.com pertaining to humidors, including our article on how to "season" a humidor.
...