Working on my DIY humidor

[tsellati]

Have definitely 'taken' to my new vice of cigar smoking. Thus far I have been picking up one or two new cigars to try after smoking one or two. I have been keeping them in a partitioned Oliva cigar box with a Boveda humidifier pack -

Now that I have found a few cigars I really like I need to store more of them on hand. So, I figured I would go low-tech and low-cost and set up a homemade humidor. I am just looking to store two dozen or so cigars at a time. I picked up an empty Cohiba Royale cigar display box that I thought would do the trick. A little weather stripping and some side latches and I think (hope) this will work out nicely.

I will place Bovida packs in this slot towards the back of the box -

And a thermometer/hygrometer up in the lid -

Placed some cigars in just as a dry run, but I will not know exactly how many cigars the box will hold until I expand my inventory.

Curious to hear if anyone else has built and poor man's humidor and how it has worked out for them.

Tim

 

[Niched_edge]

Before I was gifted my current humidor I used a small cooler. I added a bit of a gasket around the lid made from some foam I had from something else and it worked perfectly for me. I used bovida packs just like how your doing it.


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[Jan Sobieski]

Very nice! But it's not a vice.

 

[SharpieB]

I have a lot of cigars and big humidors are expensive. I ended up buying 2 x 24 bottle wine fridges. One was new for about $70 and the other didn’t work (keep cool) and it was $20 at a garage sale.

They are amazing for cigars as the door seals super tight. I have used these to store hundreds of cigars for over 20 years. Obviously you don’t need to plug them in.

 

[Lefonque]

Way to go!

 

[Columbo]

Have definitely 'taken' to my new vice of cigar smoking. Thus far I have been picking up one or two new cigars to try after smoking one or two. I have been keeping them in a partitioned Oliva cigar box with a Boveda humidifier pack -

View attachment 1260846

Now that I have found a few cigars I really like I need to store more of them on hand. So, I figured I would go low-tech and low-cost and set up a homemade humidor. I am just looking to store two dozen or so cigars at a time. I picked up an empty Cohiba Royale cigar display box that I thought would do the trick. A little weather stripping and some side latches and I think (hope) this will work out nicely.

View attachment 1260847
View attachment 1260848


I will place Bovida packs in this slot towards the back of the box -

View attachment 1260849

And a thermometer/hygrometer up in the lid -

View attachment 1260850

Placed some cigars in just as a dry run, but I will not know exactly how many cigars the box will hold until I expand my inventory.

View attachment 1260852

Curious to hear if anyone else has built and poor man's humidor and how it has worked out for them.

Tim

Great initiative!

A lot of gentlemen on a budget (or cheapskates!) do what's called a 'Tupperdore'; basically storing their sticks in Tupperware or similar food storage containers.

Your way certainly displays a little better.

Some of the better cigar boxes are actually decent short-term humidors. I know R&J used to pack humidity canisters in some of their higher-line boxes in years past. They may still do. Water up the canister, and it sits in a slot in the box.

 

[tsellati]

I have a lot of cigars and big humidors are expensive. I ended up buying 2 x 24 bottle wine fridges. One was new for about $70 and the other didn’t work (keep cool) and it was $20 at a garage sale.

They are amazing for cigars as the door seals super tight. I have used these to store hundreds of cigars for over 20 years. Obviously you don’t need to plug them in.

Ha, I too have a wine fridge but it is currently populated with lots of wine ! Cigars have to have their own place to live.

Tim

 

[tsellati]

I was not pleased with how the side latches were working and it dawned on me I had to take up space between the inside ring of the latch and the surface of the Cohiba box. Plastic washers did the trick -

The latch swings freely and closes securely. Now the test comes. I put in a Boveda 72% pack along with my hygrometer and closer 'er up. I will give it a few hours or perhaps even overnight and then check the humidity. I now it's not going to be perfectly accurate as I wll lose some humidity as soon as I open the box. I just hope the hygrometer does not register the drop too quickly.

Tim

 

[SharpieB]

Ha, I too have a wine fridge but it is currently populated with lots of wine ! Cigars have to have their own place to live.

Tim

I have a 500 bottle wine fridge that holds the wine. I don’t have enough cigars to fill that one.

I also have a couple of smaller desktop humidors, but the wine fridges hold humidity much better Suprisingly!

 

[tsellati]

I have had a Boveda 72% humidity pack in the humidor for 24 hours. Just checked and my hygrometer was reading 62%. Not sure if it will go higher over time or not. If not, this could be because my homemade humidor is not airtight sealed. It also could be that the Acu-Rite hygrometer is not properly calibrated. Hard to say.

My question is, is 62% humidity sufficient to maintain a 'healthy' environment for a two dozen or so cigars over an extended time period?

Tim

 

[Columbo]

I have had a Boveda 72% humidity pack in the humidor for 24 hours. Just checked and my hygrometer was reading 62%. Not sure if it will go higher over time or not. If not, this could be because my homemade humidor is not airtight sealed. It also could be that the Acu-Rite hygrometer is not properly calibrated. Hard to say.

My question is, is 62% humidity sufficient to maintain a 'healthy' environment for a two dozen or so cigars over an extended time period?

Tim

Anything between 60 and 74-75% is ok. Better to be low than too high. For many, the sweet spot for ideal smoking is in the low 60s.

It often takes more than 24 hours to 'season' a new humidor. You need to allow the cabinet time to absorb sufficient moisture to stabilize the humidor to the target levels. On a smaller desktop box, give it at least 2-3 days before you drop sticks in it. Otherwise, the sticks are humidifying the cabinet ... the opposite of what you want. In many instances, it's best to just put a shot glass or tea cup of distilled water in the cabinet for faster seasoning.

The best way to calibrate a hydrometer is with a salt test.

 

[tsellati]

Anything between 60 and 74-75% is ok. Better to be low than too high. For many, the sweet spot for ideal smoking is in the low 60s.

It often takes more than 24 hours to 'season' a new humidor. You need to allow the cabinet time to absorb sufficient moisture to stabilize the humidor to the target levels. On a smaller desktop box, give it at least 2-3 days before you drop sticks in it. Otherwise, the sticks are humidifying the cabinet ... the opposite of what you want. In many instances, it's best to just put a shot glass or tea cup of distilled water in the cabinet for faster seasoning.

The best way to calibrate a hydrometer is with a salt test.

Columbo,

Glad you chimed in. You are like the freakin' badger equivalent of Yoda.

So, hear is my next question. Should I look to place some Spanish cedar slats, taken from empty cigar boxes I have, into my makeshift humidor? Or is it unnecessary since it is itself a cigar box, albeit with lots of bling!

Tim

 

[Columbo]

If you load up those little cigar boxes with more linings, humidifiers and humidistats, you’re going to run out of room for the sticks!

On something that small, one or two Bovedas and a $5 disk humidistat are enough.

It’s a tiny ecosystem. Just opening the box is going to introduce wide and wild swings.

Enjoy the exercise, and have fun! And remember what you learn here for other, bigger, storage media. If you are like the rest of us, you will cherish forever (because YOU made it), but quickly outgrow, this neat little humidor. Someday, you might have a walk-in. And what you learn now with these little boxes will be very valuable to you.