Well, I finally did it

[Zeede]

I ordered my first wooden humidor. I drop by my local B&M once or twice a week, and as one of the ladies there told me, "You're kind of past the tupperdor stage."

I will post pics when it arrives!

[LGHT]

I hope it's at least one big enough to hold 100 if not I have a feeling you may be ordering a new or 2nd one shortly.

[Billb1960]

Wooden humidors are pretty and they smell great. I have 2 of them myself but I'll say this, for optimum storage of singles it's hard to beat a good tupperdor with Boveda packs.

[jhedrick83]

:woohoo:

[droy1958]

Congrats...

[DLtoker]

...And it begins.:stogie:

[Ilroy]

Shoulda skipped the wooden humi and gone straight for the wineador...:stogie:

[TheGrumpyOleTroll]

Congrats...


Now your in trouble..



The Troll

[Hardheaded]

You never pass the tupperdore stage. They are always useful.

[Keeper01]

Moving on up! I hope that you got a big one, because you tend to accumulate a lot of cigars in this hobby of ours.

[Bruck]

Congrats! Don't get rid of the tupperdor just yet :)

[Zeede]

I know my new humidor will need to be seasoned, so I will do my best impersonation of a patient person and wait :)

[Lynn]

How big

[Zeede]

How big

...why?

*eyes Lynn suspiciously*

[Lynn]

...why?

*eyes Lynn suspiciously*

I dont want to get all gushey an have it be a 25ct....

[TreySC]

I really don't see any need to be past the tupperador stage. Don't get me wrong I do want a wooden humi one day but I'm gonna wait until I can afford something custom.

[Zeede]

I dont want to get all gushey an have it be a 25ct....

It's a 65 count.

TreySC: Her comment was more about how I'm pretty serious about the hobby, so a wooden humidor would actually be something I'd appreciate owning.

[Lynn]

65-25=40..lots of room

[ChiefIlliniwek]

Congrats man! You're never past the tupperdor stage. You'll need that once you accidentally order more cigars than your wood humidor will hold. Then you'll need the coolidor once you fill both of those up.

[defetis]

It's a 65 count.

TreySC: Her comment was more about how I'm pretty serious about the hobby, so a wooden humidor would actually be something I'd appreciate owning.

Order the boveda seasoning wipes and 4 packs and an adjustable digital hygrometer while you wait

[Zeede]

Order the boveda seasoning wipes and 4 packs and an adjustable digital hygrometer while you wait

I didn't know they had seasoning wipes. I was just going to use the 84% seasoning packs.

[Dreadedtrash]

I didn't know they had seasoning wipes. I was just going to use the 84% seasoning packs.
Personally I wouldn't use the wipes. I had a single 84% boveda when I did mine. The single boveda in a 50 count humi was not doing it so I did the shotglass filled with DW trick. I left the boveda pack in there because I figured that it couldn't hurt.

It took a couple days but it was well worth it.

[Zeede]

I might put a sponge on a ceramic plate. More surface area should mean more evaporation.

[Zeede]

http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/ss212/Zeede/Humidor1_zpsjyj9vlre.jpg

http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/ss212/Zeede/Humidor2_zpssavtwysj.jpg

http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/ss212/Zeede/Humidor3_zpsewe4rqxw.jpg

They have a dint and dent sale from time to time. If you look closely, about an inch to the right of center, on the bottom lip of the humidor you can see a little gouge. It's just cosmetic, and doesn't compromise the seal.

That little dent ended up taking more than 50% off the retail price. They're also going to be sending me a 5er of his Red Label, which I gather is actually a decent cigar.

[Billb1960]

Very classy. Understated elegance. Way too small tho' :stogie:

[Zeede]

The dividers seem to be kind of pointless too. I took them out and laid them sideways, since I figure they should be seasoned too.

[Lynn]

Way too small...but I see plenty of room for more..really nice lookin

[CamoSutra]

I wouldn't call it too small; I'd say it's a very nice "starter" humidor. Yes, you'll probably outgrow it in time; when you find yourself keeping it three-quarters (or more) full most of the time, consider getting a second humidor of the same size or larger. I currently use two desktop humidors, rated at 50 and 100 stick respectively. (They actually hold less, since I use Heartfelt Beads in cleaned-out gel-humidifier jars.)

Hang onto your tupperdor for temporary excesses (a very nice problem to have!), and perhaps for aging special sticks. Before my recent move I stocked up and put the overflow into several small tupperdors with Spanish cedar veneer sheets and Boveda packs, and packed them with clothing and household goods. This made opening the various packing boxes fun! I recommend putting the tupperdor out of sight in a cool, dark place, and checking on it about once a week. If it's out of sight, you won't be tempted to get into it every day or two during aging. Besides, now you have a great-looking wooden desktop humidor to put on display as it holds your daily smokes.

[sparky426]

So Cameron do you even have enough sticks to fill it currently? Zeede

[Zeede]

Nope. But I have enough to keep it from echoing in there :)

Edit: Man this waiting is killing me :D

[projectsunfire]

that's a really nice looking humi. I started with one about the same size. Then jumped to a 48 quart coolidor. you should just get a wineador now and save yourself the trouble ;)

[boro62]

ive for some reason have always found a need for my old tupperadors and coolidors. When I got my second wineador, I thought for sure I'll never need the extra tupperadore or wineador again....boy was i wrong lolz.

Nice looking new humidor, but keep the tupperadore around for emergency overflow.

[Aithos]

that's a really nice looking humi. I started with one about the same size. Then jumped to a 48 quart coolidor. you should just get a wineador now and save yourself the trouble ;)

This is my opinion too. I started with a 100ct and filled it within a couple months and then I had 3 tupperware containers once I got a couple groupons and some gifts. Now I have a full wineador...

edit: forgot to mention - I started my cigar collection just under a year ago (end of june)

[Zeede]

Update:

Day 4. I checked the hygrometer, and it read 77%, and 72 F. I'm especially happy that the temperature is a cool 72 F, since it's sitting on some furniture, not directly in contact with the cold marble floor of my bathroom like my OXOdors are. I removed one of the 84% seasoning Boveda packets, and will check in another two days to see if the RH has fallen, increased or stayed the same.

I believe that even though the ambient humidity is that high, the wood hasn't finished soaking up the moisture yet. However, my understanding is that as long as the ambient RH is holding steady, it's safe to put cigars in, because moisture is moisture. The wood can continue to absorb moisture with or without cigars in it. I just don't want to put the cigars in too early, and have the cedar suck all the moisture out of my stogies.

Daniel Marshall humidors also have some of the thickest cedar in their humidors, so I imagine that means more time for more absorption.

[Zeede]

Day 6: The RH is at 74%, so I removed the last Boveda seasoning packet and will check again in two days to see if the RH holds.

If it's still 70%+, it's probably done, right?

[RockysPatel]

If its holding at 70+ put 1/2 your sticks in and check back after 2 or 3 days. If its still good then put the rest in. Dont be afraid to see a drop of RH once you put the sticks in. It will right itself if properly seasoned over a short period of time.

[CamoSutra]

Day 6: The RH is at 74%, so I removed the last Boveda seasoning packet and will check again in two days to see if the RH holds.

If it's still 70%+, it's probably done, right?
Congratulations on your properly-seasoned humidor!

Here's a little secret: Many of us older BOTLs -- I'm tempted to say most of us -- lacked either the knowledge or the patience to do it right the first time. In my case, it was lack of patience, and I ruined my first desktop humidor long ago by trying to rush the hydration. (I sprayed the interior until water pooled on the bottom.) Fortunately it was a cheap box, and I learned my lesson with it. I think it ended up as a child's "treasure" box, at least until the swollen-and-shrunken joints finally gave way and it fell apart.

I also ruined quite a few cigars back then, or at least over-humidified so that they didn't smoke as well as they deserved to. It was quite awhile, and another humidor or two, before I stopped adding (too much) distilled water to the florist's-foam humidifiers every time the RH dropped below 70%, then had to fight to get it back down. Beads were unknown back then, and I think Bovedas were still new. It's a wonder I stayed with the hobby until I learned the value of patience -- and until better humidification devices became common.

[allusred]

Thanks for a very informative post that is likely going to be very useful to anyone just getting started with seasoning a humidor for the first time. And, (no small and either) excellent advice on the patience needed to get the humidity where the cigars are smoking to their liking.Herf & Turf was written the masterwork on the subject.
Your post I think is concise starter on the subject. Maybe "Cliff Notes."Thanks.

Edit: One extremely fine looking Humidor you've got there Zeede, Enjoy

[BryGuySC]

that's a really nice looking humi. I started with one about the same size. Then jumped to a 48 quart coolidor. you should just get a wineador now and save yourself the trouble ;)

This is quickly becoming my plan!

[Zeede]

Hehe, after I finish paying off the ex-wife for her share of our house and get my business up and running again then maybe :)

[Zeede]

Day 8: 71%! We're in business! I transferred some cigars over in the morning, and checked them after dinner. I had placed 69% Boveda packs inside, and it was right at 69%, so I put the rest in.

Looks like it's going to hold 55-ish cigars, which isn't too bad considering it's rated as a 65 count. I've heard of some that you can barely fit in half of the listed count unless you are a cigar Tetris master.

[RockysPatel]

Word of advise. If your sticks are burning funky or having tight draws. Lower the rh to 65. I keep my smoke nows at 62 and rarely have any problems and seems the flavors are more pronounced.

[Zeede]

I ordered a cube of 65% Bovedas from my B&M. I needed to see if the humidor stabilized below the packs before doing so. I probably didn't need to worry, considering their reputation for quality, but I don't regret waiting.

[RockysPatel]

You should be good to go then. Happy Smoking and save up for a wineador cuz you'll need it soon..lol. One more thing look up recharging bovedas. Helps save a little money.

[Zeede]

You should be good to go then. Happy Smoking and save up for a wineador cuz you'll need it soon..lol. One more thing look up recharging bovedas. Helps save a little money.

Yep, I have the two 84% seasoning Boveda packs in a small OXOdor. If my packs get low, I'll put them in there and it should replenish the 65% ones.