Display Humidor

Stuart Ablett

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Tokyo Japan
OK, I've got my wood, and BOY did I pay for it, so now, I want to start working on the design.

I have a basic idea in my head, but I'm looking for some more ideas.

I'm posting a bunch of pics of commercially available humidors, and then I'll try to give you my idea of what I want to build.

I'm using Walnut for the main case, and it will lined with Luan, as I cannot get Spanish Cedar here :dunno: for some reason, most likely some protectionist reason, it is on the banned list here, in Japan.

The humidor will be in two pieces, the bottom will be all wood, and will be for storage of boxes of cigars.

The top will be all glass walls, with glass doors in front.

The doors will be like most RP doors, but with glass instead of wood for the panels.

The size is going to be 45 cm deep, 120 cm wide and about 180 cm tall.

The top will be not quite as deep as the bottom.

OK here are some pics of ready made humidors.....

02_1.JPG25_1_s.JPG8000ct.jpgMasterpiece.wBase.jpgHUM-2000A1.jpg
HUM-2000A2.jpgHUM-20001.jpgHUM-20003.jpgHUM-50001.jpg

Just some ideas.

I'm thinking that the walls of the display case (the corners, I guess) will be 1" thick stock for the strength, the doors too, as they will be carrying a fair bit of glass.

I'm going to go with the type of RP work that will have the back strip of on each panel to allow the installation of the glass, and the replacement if one gets busted.


I'll try to draw something in SketchUp to give you a better idea....

Cheers!
 
stu, some of those are flat ugly! where is this piece to sit? viewed from how many sides? what`s the footprint? what do you want the piece to accomplish? doors/drawers........drawers behind doors.......what style? modern, federal, queen ann........ideas man! not ready made schlock:D
walnut is the wood......is this to only store cigars? or loose tobacco too? do you want to be able to display pipes and smoking accessories along side the humidor? or will you offer these in a seperate part of the store?......we need input in order to help:eek:
 
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I know nothing about humidors or selling cigars but when you said what you doing I had something pictured like the last one on the bottom row and Third one on the first row. I like the looks of those two. I am sure you can imporove on those too.
 
tod, the only thing we have to remember is that it will go into Stu's place of business where it can get abused to a degree by the public, so therefore it would need to be somewhat utilitarian in design, I agree with you if it was in in his own home he should use your approach to design.

Personally Stu, I like this one. But maybe it is too nice to be in a public place and get scratched, etc.
 

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Hey Stu....I was wondering about humidity control. with all that glass and no Spanish Cedar, are you going to have trouble with regulation? Not that I know anything...that's just what first popped into my tiny little brain.:eek:
 
stu, some of those are flat ugly! where is this piece to sit? viewed from how many sides? what`s the footprint? what do you want the piece to accomplish? doors/drawers........drawers behind doors.......what style? modern, federal, queen ann........ideas man! not ready made schlock:D .............................



Tod....please.......don't hold back or be coy. Tell us how you really feel about those exmples.


:D :D :D
 
stu, some of those are flat ugly! where is this piece to sit? viewed from how many sides? what`s the footprint? what do you want the piece to accomplish? doors/drawers........drawers behind doors.......what style? modern, federal, queen ann........ideas man! not ready made schlock:D
walnut is the wood......is this to only store cigars? or loose tobacco too? do you want to be able to display pipes and smoking accessories along side the humidor? or will you offer these in a seperate part of the store?......we need input in order to help:eek:

Sorry Tod, you are right, not nearly enough info :eek:

spot_in_shop1.jpg
This is the spot, you can see the glassed in humidor in the pic, the new unit will replace the old one, and be nearly twice as tall.

spot_in_shop2.jpg
Another view

spot_in_shop_crude.jpg
here is a VERY crude drawing (VERY CRUDE!!)

The bottom will be all wood, the top will be glass on all four sides, and wood on the top and the bottom.

There will be two door on the front top and the top bottom, the pieces will be seperate, for ease of moving them, and building them.

Style, heck I don't konw, that is what I'm askin you guys for :thumb:

I like the moulding on the tops, and the bottom, I'd love to make some nice feet, but I don't have a bandsaw that can cut curves. Maybe some turned bun feet?

The humidor will be for storing and displaying cigars only. I'll make up a bunch of trays for the cigars in the case, I'll not use the case to display the boxes of cigars, this it hard to do, as I have so many types of cigars and I want to display them all.

The trays will be held on angled shelves inside the humidor.

I'm thinking of basically making a box on top, that will have a solid top, and then front will be a face frame, and the sides and back will basically be a RP door that will not open.

The bottom will be your basic cabinet, two doors that open, and some shelves in there for boxes of cigars. The humidification device will be in the base, with a vent to the top piece.

Got to run........ :D
 
tod, the only thing we have to remember is that it will go into Stu's place of business where it can get abused to a degree by the public, so therefore it would need to be somewhat utilitarian in design, I agree with you if it was in in his own home he should use your approach to design.

Personally Stu, I like this one. But maybe it is too nice to be in a public place and get scratched, etc.
That is one that I also like, but, alas, I don't have the tools to make them fancy feet..... yet.... :rolleyes:

:D
 
Hey Stu....I was wondering about humidity control. with all that glass and no Spanish Cedar, are you going to have trouble with regulation? Not that I know anything...that's just what first popped into my tiny little brain.:eek:

Yep, always a concern.

I have a set up in the unit now that does a good job, it should do well in the larger unit too.

The base unit will be lined with Luan, which is what all the comercial guys use here, it is a close relative to the Spanish Cedar, the top unit will have the Luan on the bottom and the top, as well as the inside corners. The shelves, and the trays will also be made from this Luan, should be good to go.

Cheers!
 
Hi, Stu.

From a security stand point, do you want something that tall obscuring any view from your right side?

From the pictures, it looks like your cash register might be in that vicinity and where you might spend much of your time.

I don't know if you have much, if any trouble with theft. This might be a consideration.
 
1) as a confirmed non-smoker I can' believe I'm helping out here...:doh:

2) I echo George's concern about security. But also, just from a comfort point of view. Will this make the cash register counter feel boxed in? I suggest mocking this up with some carboard boxes -- stack some on top of the current unit and see how it makes the shop feel. Maybe if you took your crude drawing and chopped it down about 12 inches shorter?

3) Feet... like Steve I like that one with the feet and curves. But the problem with feet is that it allows stuff to roll UNDER the unit. I think I would, for your situation, suggest instead something that goes flush to the floor.

What about starting with a bottom something like this...
hum1.jpg

and a variation on this for the top -- make it wider, two doors that meet in the middle, maybe about half as thick trim at the top...
hum2.jpg

have fun!
 
Hey Stu....I was wondering about humidity control. with all that glass and no Spanish Cedar, are you going to have trouble with regulation? Not that I know anything...that's just what first popped into my tiny little brain.:eek:

John,

I smoke cigars and thought the same thing. I can't keep my little box humid which has spanish cedar and a humidification device.

Stu, you can fit a lot of money in a cabinet that size. Make sure if nothing else you get a good humidity gauge.

Oh yeah, and send me some cubans :D
 
I am not a cigar smoker, but my son is my advisor, and his research suggests that the spanish cedar needs to be thick enough and used throughout as a humidity buffer. He has taken me to cigar stores where the walk-in humidor even had spanish cedar panels on the ceiling. So I would worry about the humidity in the big glass case.

I have heard (no experience) that mahogany can substitute for spanish cedar. If you go that far, since mahogany is sometimes protected, some of the mahogany cousins (like Cipo) may also work.

I would be sure the upper cabinet is the full size of the base cabinet. I can see customers leaving things on the ledge when you want to open the doors. That space would be non-functional and a possible hazard (and isn't space in Tokyo worth hundreds of dollars per square inch?)
 
Hi, Stu.

From a security stand point, do you want something that tall obscuring any view from your right side?

From the pictures, it looks like your cash register might be in that vicinity and where you might spend much of your time.

I don't know if you have much, if any trouble with theft. This might be a consideration.

It is a consideration, that is why even the back of this unit will be glass, so we can peek through it.

Cheers!
 
stu, bracket feet are doable with your current tools and are pretty classy but they`d depend on the style of the rest of the cabinet to look right.....

Here I am, trying to sneak a new 14" bandsaw through the back door and Tod tells me I don't need it :eek: Some friend you are ;) :D

Seriously, if I can do them with the set up I have now, that does open more design possibilities. :thumb:

Art, I'm a non-smoker too, only my cigar smokes ;)

Charlie, the humidity thing is really only a problem about 4 months of the year otherwise the problem is too much humidity! The shop has the aircon on 24/7 so that helps a lot, but still, it is too often hot and humid here.

The entire bottom will be lined with the Luan, which is in the same family as Mahogany and Spanish Cedar (they call Luan "Philippine Mahogany"). With the case I have now, it is not lined with Spanish Cedar and it maintains humidity with ease, in fact, I often have to crack the door on it in the summer, which is another consideration for the new unit, some kind of vent in the back to let in ACed air in case it gets too humid.

We use a LARGE digital hygrometer, works well.

Cheers!
 
stu, some of those are flat ugly! where is this piece to sit? viewed from how many sides? what`s the footprint? what do you want the piece to accomplish? doors/drawers........drawers behind doors.......what style? modern, federal, queen ann........ideas man! not ready made schlock:D
walnut is the wood......is this to only store cigars? or loose tobacco too? do you want to be able to display pipes and smoking accessories along side the humidor? or will you offer these in a seperate part of the store?......we need input in order to help:eek:
I think these are the questions we need to ask ourselves each time we undertake a project. Good stuff Tod. Maybe a forum on "Questions to ask ourselves before we start a project".
Shaz
 
Hey Stu,

Neat project. Last smaller humidor I made I started to go with Luan, but just felt it was too porous to really control the humidity. I went instead with another Mahogany wannabe, Meranti. Sold here as Dark Red Mahogany. I liked the porosity [or lack of] better.

In repairing many old freestanding humidors of various sizes, I have found them almost all lined with copper sheet. Probably over kill. The one in my house is smallish, a 150 years old, lined with copper, and the carcass is made with Mahagony and Walnut [a few other woods for the inlay work].

Well, back to the design. I personally would opt for no feet, instead it sitting down to the floor. I hate cleaning under things.

Take care, Mike
 
Stu,

Cool project, and I have been around a humidor in the same situation you're in, when younger as my family also owned a liquor store where I worked for about 10-15 years of my life...I do remember having to fill the humidifier unit for the cigars, that was one of my jobs...

Any case will work properly as long as you have the humidifier/vaporizer/mister unit in there.

In your case, presentation is everything. How you display and present the cigars should be comfortable for the customer. A large glass front is a must, as your designs have.

I would utilize the space inside the humidor to your best advantage, size it so you can fit cigar boxes, and make it a size in width that will allow to comfortably place the amount of boxes inside (or make your own, but that would seem like overkill).

Being able to deal with opening and closing of the boxes, say for Don Diegos, the box typically latches on the front, but you want to be able to open the lid somehow and not interfere with the above boxes. Presemably you want to have them all open, or have trays that you will put the cigars in, out of the boxes, but that typically ends up as more work if you do that so using the factory boxes is much easier.

My stepdad used to smoke cigars, but we didn't carry many of the better cigars since our store was in the ghetto, and mostly the customers bought the inexpensive roy-tan, tiparillos, and other garbage, but my stepdad smoked those Don Diegos, and similars.

I'll be honest, I always loved the smell of the humidor, but hated the smell of my stepdad's cigar smoke. But what the hey, he never liked the smell of cannabis, so I figured we were even... :rofl:

Presumably the very bottom will be used for storage in the rear along with the humidifier/vaporizer/mister.

Next project you can work on a case to hold McCallans 25, McCallans 30, and similar! :thumb:
 
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