I have an interested party that wanted me to do a "cut away" analysis of a typical humidor available on a popular e-commerce website.

The interested party purchased this humidor, Cuban Crafters Exotica Ebony/Cigar Humidor 125 count, handed it over to me and said, "Have at it"....

First thing I noticed was the sticker placed on the bottom of the "humidor"...

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My first impression was.... "shiny" almost to a plastic effect.

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The next thing to come to mind was.... Hmmmm, which one of my tools will get the job. I chose the bandsaw.

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I was surprised at the ease that my saw went through this humidor. I have a harder time just resawing spanish cedar.

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Ta-Da! The test subject is prepared.

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I had suspected a spanish cedar veneer of about 1/32".... boy, was I surprised. It didn't even have that. I would compare what is being touted as spanish cedar to nothing more than a wall paper type material. So thin, that it didn't even register on my "Incra" measuring tool.

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None of the panels were sealed with anything such as silicone. The panels basically just sat in a groove.

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Here's another picture of a cross sectioned piece.

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Doesn't appear to have a lot of glue on the corner joint...

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All in all, I guess you get what you pay for. I wouldn't expect this humidor to hold humidity as one would hope that it would. Spanish cedar is the nuts and bolts of a humidor. The seasoning process should take about a week in a properly lined humidor. However, one like this, I would say would be a waste of time to even attempt to season.

Oh, and take a look at the "plywood" bottom tray that came with it.... I will say that the tray sides and the small pieces to effect the "seal" were in fact 1/4" spanish cedar.

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Thanks for looking....
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This should be interesting!

:-)
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Cool idea. Not surprised though.
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Yikes! I know I had to Re-seal the tower humidor I got. Front looked great, but back panel was MDF and simply stapled on. Thanks for the dissection and fantastic work on the Humidors you make. They truly are pieces of art.
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Like you said, "You get what you pay for".
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Not surprised here. Thanks for sharing Ed.
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What a great idea! Do you think you'll do others? Would be cool to find out the differences between the price ranges.
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This is exactly why I am having my humidor custom built... With half inch Spanish cedar inlay, it should trump most readily purchasable humidors on the market.... :-)

Very interesting thread idea... Thanks for posting it...
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