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starting out

ali

New Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2007
Messages
4
hello :D ,
been lurking for a while, time to make my first post. I'm ali and I'm in the uk.
For my birthday I'm gonna get a sampler pack and some singles to get me started in the world of cigars :rolleyes: This is an assortment of cubans btw. I plan to take my time with these and age them a bit but I'll smoke some.

This all puts me in the market for a humidor. I was going to just get this : humidor

but then walking through my corridor i saw my cabinet and thought I could convert part of it. The section to the right is seperate to the rest of it and is 4'x2'x1'
Here it is, couldn't get any good pics because the hall is so narrow:
SANY0082.jpg

SANY0083.jpg

However I have no idea at all how to go about this and what I need to do to it. The door hasnt got a good seal on it and failed the "dollar test", but it does close properly. I don't know how I could seal that. The way it looks to me if I could sort this out it would make a perfect humidor. If not I'll probably buy the one in the link

Also I found this box in the street a while ago:
SANY0087.jpg

SANY0086.jpg


Its very small at about 25x18x6cm. But I thought it could hold maybe 5-10 cigars and could come in handy as some sort of humidor if I could sort it out, no i dead how again. It's got a very good seal though and passed the dolla test and the torch test. I'll be happy if something can be done with it I jus keep pens in it.

So how would I go about truning these into humidors and is the humi in the link any good?

Really nice forum you have here :D
Thanks
ali
 
Those are all good possibilities you mentioned, some more ambitious than the other. I, being the lazy creature that I am, would probably go with a coolider. The humidor you are thinking of buying looks good but will end up probably being too small. I recommend getting a coolider and using beads. This way you can see what your cigar consumption is like and you will not have spent the money for something too small.

About converting the cabinet into a humi, I don't have the expertise to talk about the how of it, but it sounds like a good project you can do after a little time seeing how much space you need and learn more about cigar storage. I hope this helps. There are members here who can give you better advice than I have. Welcome to the site and join the fun. :cool:
 
On another note, fill out your profile so the other members can get to know you and introduce yourself in the introduction forum. Welcome!! :thumbs:
 
If you're just now starting out, that humidor may be fine. Ask yourself how "into" this you are? Do you plan on keeping inventory on hand or just buying when you want one? 50-60 sticks may sound like a lot, but if you are into the whole scene all the way, you'll fill that up in no time.

I'd either A) agree with Sax and say get a cooler or B) start with some tupperware type container until you get an idea of how much room you need. You've probably already got something in the kitchen that will work well for storing your cigars.
 
Converting that cabinet would be a project. I've never done anything like that before, so if anyone else has, please feel free to correct my suggestions.

What kind of wood is the cabinet made of? I'm guessing it's not spanish cedar. Measure the inside of the cabinet to determine the amount of board feet of spanish cedar you would need to line it with. Spanish cedar is what most humidors are made of/lined with because it is good for maintaining a consistant humidity level. It's not cheap, but it's also not very hard to get (you might have to order it though).

You have to allow for air circulation, or the cigars farthest from your humidity source are going to dry out. If the shelves come all the way out to the door, you won't get good air circulation. At the very least, the shelves in that particular cabinet would need to be slotted. I'd recommend mounting them at an angle as well.

You need a humidity source. An active humidity system, like Cigar Oaisis, works well for cabinet humidors (if you have somewhere you can plug it in). If not, get beads. I'd put some at the top of the cabinet, and some at the bottom. Determine the interior space of the cabinet to figure the amount of beads you will need. Someone more knowledgeable than I can help you out there.

Like I said, I've never done this before. If anyone with experience in building/converting cabinet humidors gives you better advice, listen to them.
 
Converting that cabinet would be a project. I've never done anything like that before, so if anyone else has, please feel free to correct my suggestions.

What kind of wood is the cabinet made of? I'm guessing it's not spanish cedar. Measure the inside of the cabinet to determine the amount of board feet of spanish cedar you would need to line it with. Spanish cedar is what most humidors are made of/lined with because it is good for maintaining a consistant humidity level. It's not cheap, but it's also not very hard to get (you might have to order it though).

You have to allow for air circulation, or the cigars farthest from your humidity source are going to dry out. If the shelves come all the way out to the door, you won't get good air circulation. At the very least, the shelves in that particular cabinet would need to be slotted. I'd recommend mounting them at an angle as well.

You need a humidity source. An active humidity system, like Cigar Oaisis, works well for cabinet humidors (if you have somewhere you can plug it in). If not, get beads. I'd put some at the top of the cabinet, and some at the bottom. Determine the interior space of the cabinet to figure the amount of beads you will need. Someone more knowledgeable than I can help you out there.

Like I said, I've never done this before. If anyone with experience in building/converting cabinet humidors gives you better advice, listen to them.
side note....Good to see you Eric, long time bro...hope all is well.
 
Cheers Mate,
I would go with the Coolidor idea as well until you figure out where your hobby is going to take you. This will give you plenty of room to grow. The mistake most people make (including my self) is that they go too small and, waste way too much money buying up after the collection grows too big. That can easily happen if you stay around here very long.
The cabinet humidor is something you ought to wait until after you have had more time on here learning IMO.
I do not know if the cigar Oasis is available your way due to the power outlet/voltage differences. Maybe they have something similar in the UK. But, you would need some kind of humdification device other than just beads, etc. for that cabinet. Even if you only converted part of it.

Where do you live in the UK and, how far is it from the Bouremouth, Christ Church area?
John
 
side note....Good to see you Eric, long time bro...hope all is well.

Hey Rob. I've been gone a while due to several reasons. Long story short, I live in Indianapolis now, I've started a new job, and we've got a new baby coming in July. I think that should pretty much catch you up. Nice to be back. :cool:
 
Hi ali,

The box you got from the street looks OK for a start, for a sampler
and a few other sticks. Get some humidifier beads, after you season
the box for a week or two. (Just put an open container of water in it
and close it up. The wood will absorb the water vapor. If you must
wipe down the interior, use only distilled water)

In general, the humidor you like will be too small. At least double that
capacity. The coolerdors are good for aging boxes of cigars, but don't
come with cedar linings, which is the preferred environment for even
short term storage of cigars. Most decent cigar boxes and humidors
are made with the proper(spanish) cedar.

You'll find that you like many different cigars, and don't like just as
many. But every time you find one that tastes good to you, you'll
want to buy more. This is why humidors fill quickly. Before long
you'll have 6, 8 or 10 'favorites' and about 10 sticks of each. Add
to that the fivers of those that you don't really appreciate and your
cigar count easily exceeds 100. The cigars that you don't like
can be used in trades, etc. as you make friends on the cigar boards.
One man's "dog rocket" is another man's favorite.

It's amazing how fast my 150 count humi filled, in less than a year.
My overflow is now in a tupperdor, but I now know my 8-10 favorites.
(and new cigars come along regularly)
So, I plan to either double/triple my capacity or cull/smoke my collection
down, to fit in the 150 count humi. A coolerdor is an option, but I only
smoke about 2-3 cigars each week, so aging many boxes is not likely.

Luckily, I've found a few herfing buddies to split boxes with, and so
keep 'per stick' costs down. Start slowly and try many different brands
and blends, until you find the right cigars for you.

Good luck with your new hobby.

Chemyst :cool:
 
:blush: i forgot all about this since I've been away. Busy now but I'll reply later. Thanks for all the replies
 
OK,
I had a bit of change of plan since I'm going to go on holiday to ethiopia and paying for the whole family aswell, I'm not going to buy as many cigars as I planned, about 25 assorted cubans, now I'm just going to get 4 or 5 nice cigars to see if I really like this. I have never smoked a cigar before though my grandad was a heavy smoker and I have fond memories. So i see myself, for the time being, not having an inventory as such but a very small selection kept at a constant level, trying new things and not buying any boxes of one cigar til I know what flavours and sizes I like. Then in a year or however long that process takes I will choose 1 or 2 favourites and keep myself supplied with boxes. I don't plan to be a daily smoker if that helps reccomend a humidor.

Bearing this in mind I abondened the idea of the conversion (for the time being) and have become interested in humidor jars, they seem like a cheap alternative to a collidor since they don't seem like the best looking things t o me lol. Do these cigar jars do the job well, can they hold cigars long term or are they just a temporary solution? They sound like the perfect thing for meat this time being only £20.

I'll go sort out my profile now.
thanks
ali

EDIT:John I'm in london, so bournemouth isn't exactly round the corner, why do you ask?
 
Some patient and good advise given to someone who doesn't know if they will ever smoke a cigar or not ???
You cannot be half pregnant. :(

At least the advise will not go to waste because many people read these posts and other genuine BOTL's will
appreciate and learn.

Brian
 
lol of course I'm going to smoke a cigar, I'm not going to keep them for display purposes. what I'm trying to say is that I don't kno whether I'm going to own hundereds and thousands, fill my home up with humidors and smoke a box a day.
You have to start somehwere and I think it's better to start small. I don't know where you read that i don't know if I'll ever smoke a cigar but I can ensure you that's not the case.
The information given to me about the cabinet coversion will not be forgotten as it's definately a possiblity if I become that into the cigar scene. and as you said other people will benefit from the information
I don't know if i misphrased something I said earlier on so I'm going to re-read it and check.
 
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