So I have been away (perhaps noticeably or not) from the board for the past month or so. Over this time I had my final exam’s to deal with and then I went home for the winter break. When I first started I had a little 70 Ct. humidor. Over the past few months my collection has grown and I have outgrown my 70 ct. desktop… and a few other larger desktops. Although there are some nice inexpensive alternatives I wanted something that would look nice. This meant that I didn’t want a cooler. I looked into the Vinotemps but as I live in Canada I found them to be few and far between and expensive to get one that looked nice. Also being from Canada, the shipping and Duty charges on the humidors that I could purchase from the States made them very cost ineffective. This meant that I was almost out of options. Unless I built one. So over this 2 week period I worked on building my humidor. Now I am writing this to say only how I built my humidor. I am not a woodworker in any way and I made my fair share of mistakes in building this. I am only mildly proficient with power tools but I think it all came alright. So here is how I made my humidor.

I am lucky in that I live close to a specialty wood store. I chose to build my humidor with Black walnut and Zebra wood. I used solid 4/4 S2S lumber. This would make a sturdy heavy box. I decided on my dimensions and bought my wood. 5 pieces of walnut for the sides, base, bottom and door frame. This piece of Zebra wood for the top.
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I to cut the wood and biscuit it together (about one biscuit every 6”)

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Biscuit and then glue
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Above are the sides biscuited together and then

I then cut rabbets to join the sided and back together.
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I made a sacrificial fence for this and then cleaned out the rabbets with a chisel
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Then It was time to glue them up
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And this is what you get
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I then biscuited the bottom on
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And put a little bit of weight on top
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I then went to work on the top.

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I wanted to put in glass so I made sure it had a lip to hold the glass in.
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I mitered and biscuited the edges and then glued and assembled
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I then wanted to route the sides. Since I didn’t own a router table I made one. Here is out if turned out.

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So I routed the corners.

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I then took my Spanish cedar and cut to fit and lined the sides of the box.

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And the back

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I then biscuited the top onto the box

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It was then time for the door. I wanted to make a raised panel door where the raised panel was Zebra wood. Expensive but only slightly more expensive than plan glass and cheaper than bevelled glass. I cut the pieces to size

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And routed them to fit together. Using only a little it of glue on the rails. The stiles were not glued so that they may expand with the humidity. I later sealed this with silicone as it will allow the wood to move

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I then made the base. I had left over zebra wood that I put in like a keystone. Everything is held together with biscuits. One of my best purchases was the biscuit joiner.

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Freehand routing

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LOTS of sawdust, I set off my fire alarm about 10 times making this cabinet. And I covered my workshop/ storage room in sawdust. Move everything out that you don’t want covered in sawdust before starting a project of this scale
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I then biscuited this to the base
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And by this time the box was enough weight to hold it all in place
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And the base Spanish cedar (friction fit, no glue)
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I then installed the door. Note that the cedar had to be chiselled out so that the full overlay door would sit flush over the opening

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It was then all sanded and I started to apply the finish. Linseed oil was first

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I had to stick to a strict schedule because I didn’t have much time. Only 2 weeks. So between my 6 coats of varnish that I put on after the stain I worked on the inside drawers and shelf.

We have wood.
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And make Drawers. Note the difference in the pattern… That’s how you know that it is handmade :-)
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Good job and nice looking wood . :-)
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And then once the 6 coats of varnish were on (sanding in between each second coat) I installed the drawers

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I made a simple shelf and then installed the glass with one inch thick Spanish cedar and covered the whole rim in weatherstripping for a good seal.

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Not too bad for 2 weeks start to finish. I didn’t have time to sand this down as I took these pictures 4 hours before I had to be out the door for a flight back to school.

One last pic is the initial master plan

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When I get back in May I am putting in dividers and humi beads. Needless to say I spent my cigar budget already!

I Hope you like it as much as I do.:-)
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Great Job Buddy. That thing looks sweet.
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Looks great, hope you enjoy it!
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Looks fantastic! :-)

If you don't mind me asking, what was your total construction cost?
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holy **** man, that looks great. very nice handy work.
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Wow...just wow!!! Great work.
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awesome wood work.
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Very nice and great pictures of the progress from beginning to end.

Mike :-)
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job well done, it turned out beautiful.

mind me asking how much everything cost you to build? tools excluded
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That looks very nice, I am sure it will be enjoyed and well used.
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Shiiiiet man that is one hell of a way to spend your break! Great job.

Hey where are you attending school?
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One of a kind that you can treasure! can't wait to see pics of you filling it up and getting all your gear in there!

I'm so jealous of people who have the skill to work with wood.
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Total Materials Cost: $650 CAD all in

If I was to build another it would cost around $100-$150 less as some items were purchased in bulk. The wood obviously accounts for most of the cost as Zebrano is not cheap (nor is black walnut) however I have enough left over to make a small 100 ct. desktop out of black walnut with some Zebrano accents. This cost does not count in the cost of the tools which if bought at home depot can be quite expensive but if you get them off the net are reasonable. The Interior dimensions are roughly 31"x19"x19". outside is roughly 35"x21"X21". The top has a lip on it of 1" all around. I wanted something of a tower look to it. Since shipping on an item of this size would be about $300 plus Duty (another $100-$200) I feel I made out well.
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Nicely done enjoy filling it:-)
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Man that is sweet
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