Bespoke Humidor design - need help technical help

david.winter

Dear all,

I am building a Bespoke humidor and I need some advice, the piece is for a client and a cant diclose too much information about the design. So I will do my best to describe it.

Basically I have never built or designed a humidor before and I need information regarding:

Humidity control, ie Humidifyers (I was thinking of using the ciagr spa). also the optimum location.
Temperature control - Thermostats etc.
Air flow - do I need fans etc.

Mainly just the technical stuff, working for a cabnetry firm I have a good understanding of contruction methods and materilas involved. So I just need advice on enviroment controll and kitting it out with Humidifyers, Hygrometrs, Thermostats, fans etc.

The piece:

A SKETCH IS POSTED AT THE LINK BELOW:
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o10/silverdave123/8026E_humidor_table.jpg

SECTION VIEW:
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o10/silverdave123/P.jpg

The piece is a smoking table, in the centre is a humador that pops up. The unit is sealed when closed.

Inside the cigars are stored on a cedar A-frame with removable trays.

To be honest I dont know where to start in regards to humidfyer placment fan locations, do  I need to heat or even cool the unit. It will only be holding 100 cigars.

any help along these lines would be most appreciated.

Many thanks

David

clearlysuspect

You shouldn't need any thermostats, cooling, heating, fans, or anything of this sort for a 100 count humidor. If you were building a cabinet that held upward of 1000 cigars then you'd start worrying about things like these.

The main things you're going to need to focus on are:
1.) Ensure that the humidor is sealed correctly. No air in or out.
2.) For humidification, look into Heartfelt Beads
3.) Use a digital hydrometer, not analog.

That's about all I can think of. You don't really need anything fancy or high tech gizmos for a 100 count.

Hope this helps.

camgfs

I absolutely agree that you will not need fans or heating/cooling for a 100 count humidor. You will need a humidification device (look for beads or crystals that are designed for humidors). The placement of this humidification device is not important, other than not having it in the way of the cigars. Most often, they are mounted on the inside of the lid, where it will not be in direct contact with the cigars. If this is not possible, mount it on the side, with a cedar divider that is cut to allow air circulation (a notch or some holes in it will do fine).
Good luck with the project.

nsezell

If it's possible you should just build a small tray or trough like thing for the center, between the two trays, on the floor of the box. You MUST make sure that the entire humidor portion is lined with spanish cedar, not just cedar. It is what helps hold the proper humidity and gives you the humidor smell. That is really important. Otherwise, the seal is important too. It should seal really well or you'll be loading it down with beads. Desired conditions are about 65-70 F and 65-70% humidity. Good luck. Pictures would be sweet if you could when you finish this thing, or along the way. This thing looks amazing! Good luck dude, keep us posted.

david.winter

Hey guys,

Thanks so much for your advice. The humidity beads, I did not think of using them, sounds perfect.

Ok so thats some technical issues delt with. I have one other issue im not sure about.
Although i am using spanish cedar throughout the internal contruction of the hunidor. There will also be some leather inside humidor. Does anyone know if  having other materilas inside the humidor will affect the cigars.

bacon.jay

From the sketches in your links, I can see that keeping a stable humidity may become a problem given the expected number of cigars the space will hold.

Most of the people on this site will agree that a stable humidity is easiest to maintain when one's humidor is roughly 65-85% full. With the design you have sketched, it seems like the number of cigars for the amount of space you have drawn will fall well under that range. It's just something I noticed while looking at your drawings.

david.winter

Yes... that is a good point.Cigars only take up about 25% of the space so is this going to be a problem and what possible consiquences might it have. could it be a strain on the humidifyer.

Thanks

lilwing88

I don't know much about mechanisms and hardware, but I hope that whatever you use to allow for the opening and closing of this thing is built to handle someone opening and closing it dozens of times each day. Cuz if he's anything like the rest of us on this forum, he'll be checking on his babies constantly!

That being said, you have designed my dream humidor. I don't even want to know how much it costs. If I ever hit the lottery, I"ll shoot you a PM!