I have to agree with what I have read here. If it were a x-mas gift from your brother in law the hobby woodworker it's beautiful. For $500 from a "professional" it's not even close. Send that sucker back.
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I would have sent it back myself. Quality these days is so down hill :-) I bought a Lucky 7 humidor and for "Made in China" product it's not bad. The first traditional stlyle humidor I purchased sent back to do the veneer peeling off.

Mac
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DV, I think you hit the nail on the head. I could do half-baked job myself (for a lot less).
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You are not being too picky. You are investing a lot of money into this and you want what you paid for. Not to mention that this will house your investment in cigars and if it does not function properly and is not what you expected by all means I agree with you.
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love the coffin humidor:-)
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Maybe I'm just an a-hole but even if it was from my brother-in-law I'd send it back! That thing couldn't be used as a humidor and would be useless to me as anything else cause that gap would annoy the hell out of me.
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If you've got anything else to add, do it now. I'm going to email him a link to this thread, tomorrow.
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You get a refund yet?
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I would see if you can get your refund before doing that. Has he flat out refused to refund you? I'm not sure a link to a thread where everyone is blasting his work would be beneficial.

If you start on the offensive too strong out the gate, he may tell you to shove it. If this guy is not an actual business, I don't really know how much leverage you actually have.

Just something to think about.
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This. That's why I asked if you had gotten a refund yet. Thanks for clearing that up Peter.
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I have to agree 100%. Get your refund first
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If it was from family, I'd keep it, just probably wouldn't use it for cigars, but other odds and ends.
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I'm not sure a link to this thread would accomplish anything. Even after a refund.

What would be gained by showing him that others have jumped on the bashing bandwagon?

I agree the quality is sub-standard and a refund is warranted but showing him this thread is pointless.
:-)
Posted via Mobile Device
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I can toss in my 2 cents, I suppose.
I highly doubt the interior is pine. Pine is aromatic. A guy would have to be retarded to use pine in a humi. Poplar or birch is fine, it's non-aromatic but it's softwood.
I can see why he laminated the poplar? to the paduak, it's because paduak is CRAZY expensive. Ebony is out of this world expensive.
Because I work with the stuff and buy wood, I'd know it was impossible to build that box of solid paduak for the price you paid. The material alone would be close to that price (if not more) if it was made of solid hardwoods.

Setting in stop hinges takes time, but they're easy. I do it by hand with a chisel. The best corner hinges are side/back or corner stop hinges like this I use 4 screw ones in brass)...

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They require tons of setup, lots of time, and are sheer hell to install. It's what you want in a humi, though. If it's a wide solid hardwood humi, the lid will be very heavy and you have to add a couple flat stop hinges (like you got) in addition to corner hinges or screews will tear out and the lid will fall off.

If a guy builds a humidor from solid hardwood and hinges and recessed mating surfaces, it's is 100% impossible to get a 100% water-tight, air-tight seal. I like to mate surfaces and use foam and some sort of positive latch. That way they become zero maintenance. Sometimes it looks good, sometimes not, so I've decided to do things a whole different way. I'm just playing, though, looking for my own design that I'm personally pleased with that I'd be proud to offer and gift to people.
That's not to say that a guy can't get a very good or perfectly usable seal using conventional humi-building techniques, it's just that I personally shoot for 100% airtight so there's almost zero maintenance. 99% isn't good enough for me because I'm nuts, even though it makes no real-world difference.

That box is real close to being worth every dime you paid for it. Were the hinges set in, you'd have your money's worth. The guy cut a corner that shouldn't be cut, that's all. I'm sure any customers would pay an extra 20 bucks for the time proper fitment would take. He just made a silly move. It happens.

Handmade quality takes tons of time. The guy didn't do a bad job, not by a longshot.
And the humi is well worth what you paid.
I think you're right in sending it back. I wouldn't accept it in it's present condition, either. Nor would I send one out in that condition (speaking strictly on the hinges).
I can't really assess the quality of the handwork, but it really doesn't look bad in your pics, and the humi has a lot of touches that require extra time. So like I said, it's worth the money right up to where he flunked out on the hinges.

To make a solid hardwood, top-flight, heirloom piece in that size range, you'd be hard-pressed to find something at twice the price. I just mention that to explain the market he's shooting at. I think you deserve and want a little bit better for your money, but you're going to have to spend a little more to get it. Expect to pay $800-$1200 for something around that size, solid hardwood, with medium respect to handwork and fitment and finish.

I hope that helps!!! :-)
Scott
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:-):-)


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Hi Scott,

It was close, real close but the lid was the deal breaker. His craftsmanship was really good, but his design sucks.

I paid with a credit card, and he already has the box back, so if he doesn't refund me, I'll handle it thru Visa.
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I wish you could have run it by. We could have set in the hinges and you'd be good to go. I wish I'd have seen this earlier, I could have fixed her up for you.
Best of luck with the rest of the deal, I hope you don't have a hard time getting your money back!!! :-)
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But that's not the point. You spend premium money on a humidor, you shouldn't have to send it to a 3rd party to "fix her up". That's the whole point of spending extra..for premium $$, I expect premium material and craftsmanship on a humidor that I can use immediately.
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Adequate skill for a shed,woefully short of an artist............
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The reality is he was close, real close. He spent a lot of time and money on it, but in the end it was like Leonardo da Vinci painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa.

Great painting if it didn't have a mustache :-)

Same thing here. Great box if the lid fit correctly.

The fact the it came shipped and packed with used materials just shows a lack of pride in your work. The writing on the magnets shows a lack of attention to detail.

I don't know if the box took two hours, two days, two months or two years to build. The top is half-a$$ed.

I'm guessing you guys are right about the poplar wood, but shouldn't the whole box be lined with cedar?

What if I didn't want to use the tray?

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